


Shippo and the Magic Wand

by Alesyira



Series: The Curse [1]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, Gen, Magic, Mistakes, Silly, Trouble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-08-23
Updated: 2006-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:22:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 48
Words: 51,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26046463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alesyira/pseuds/Alesyira
Summary: Shippo finds something strange in the forest, and chaos in beauty ...and then further adventures in undoing said beauty!... ensues.
Series: The Curse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1890910
Kudos: 8





	1. A Cold Morning

I didn't want to wake up today. It was chilly in the hut; I stretched my hand out, blindly searching for Kirara's warm fur. Bare wood met my fingers, and I grumbled with the idea that I'd actually have to get up. It's not as though the cold is _bad_ for me, it's just... I'm still a little kid, and there's something really tempting about staying warm and comfortable for as long as possible... Especially if someone special is keeping you warm, like snuggling with Kagome (that's always the best.) But she went home yesterday to visit with her family and buy supplies.

Cracking open an eye, I saw that everyone had left already; Miroku and Sango had mentioned last night about needing to visit her old village for some reason or another... but I couldn't remember what it had been, exactly. I think I was busy working on my last drawing when they discussed that trip. And as to Kaede's whereabouts... Hm. I paused for a moment to listen carefully. I could hear a few birds chirping nearby, the thumping footfalls of a horse in the dirt, and the faint sounds of earth shifting and roots tearing. She must have gone to tend to her herb garden.

Kagome was due to come back some time after noon today, but she didn't give us an exact time... So I stretched and got up, walking slowly to the hut entrance to peek outside at the morning. Inuyasha was probably sulking in the woods nearby. The two of them had argued (again) when she'd asked to go home for a few days. He'd yelled that she didn't need to because school was over, and she'd argued that she had a right to spend a little bit of time with her family. You'd think, after three years of us being a pretty tight-knit group, they'd have learned to get over their silly fights and admit they like each other more than they already do. We, and by that, I mean Sango, Miroku, Kirara and I, all _know_ that they harbor strong feelings for each other. You'd really have to be blind _not_ to see it. None of us are exactly sure why they still argue so much, but sometimes we have to wonder why (with all the tension and constant bickering) they aren't more than just close friends.

My mother and father didn't argue even half this much when they were still alive. They always spoke to one another in respectful tones, honoring each other's status as an equal partner in the relationship. In fact, Father practically worshipped the ground she walked on (because Mother was the _most_ beautiful kitsune youkai in the whole world.) Family is terribly important to my kind, the kitsune. I've met a few other kitsune youkai (lower class and not much to learn from) during our group's years of traveling the countryside in search of the sacred shards, but I have still yet to learn anything more about my kind beyond what I experienced with my parents. Father hunted for us and kept us safe from attacks, and I spent so much time with Mother that the few times that she had to leave my side always felt strangely cold and surreal. It put the idea of a nurturing mother to a whole new level, as though without her presence I wouldn't thrive.

Sometimes, when Father was away, she'd tell me to curl up in the corner while she'd creep outside the den to fend off intruders... One day, she didn't come back. I'd... fallen asleep while waiting, and Father returned with his prey... We both went out and searched for her, but we never found her body, nor any trace of where she'd gone. It took me a long time to realize what that might have meant: that she'd been eaten whole, in order to not leave any trace behind. Deep down, in some morbid part of my soul, I was glad that she'd not suffered through the terrible death that Father had endured... being skinned by that bastard... I swallowed back the lump that started to block off my throat; my parents had been gone for some time now, and I'd learned a long time ago that it wasn't good to dwell on those sad memories.

Sometimes I'm not sure why they come to mind every time I think of Kagome and Inuyasha – maybe it's because (in a small way) I see them as a sort of adopted parents? I still don't know how I feel about that yet... I mean, Kagome and Inuyasha taking the place of my parents. They don't really raise me like parents would – Kagome showers me with small presents (candy, crayons and paper, and other things that make me happy,) coddles me, and makes me feel loved... but Inuyasha picks on me like an older brother would, and I _know_ I'd never try and annoy my father half as much as I annoy Inuyasha.

But they are definitely family now, and I want to see them as happy as they've made me over these last few years. There isn't much I can give back to them beyond my own love and affection. ' _Well, that, and a liberal sprinkling of irritation **all** for Inuyasha,'_ I thought, a small grin gracing my lips. Happy... yes, I've been unbelievably happy with the group... I've found more love and support and companionship than I'd ever have thought possible after the loss of my parents. But... Something is off. Something has _always_ been off. In the first few years of my life, I grew from a kit the size of Inuyasha's fist to nearly the size I am now. My growth slowed after Mother died, when Father had to take over raising and protecting me. He was very much capable of parenting, but it was never the same. I felt cold and alone, as though there wasn't so much light in the world anymore. Kagome described this feeling to me as 'depression.'

I would describe it as missing my mother, but deeper. Much... much deeper. My soul practically cried out for her missed embrace... and as these years have crept by, I've begun to notice (with slightly growing alarm) that I've yet to grow any more. I'm still the same, short fluffy-tailed cutie that I was the day my father died. Pint-sized, bright, easy target, with an adorably cute voice that _easily_ gets the girls to coo... and did I mention my huge baby eyes? Oh, it's killer: quirk my eyebrows and lips into a sad expression... top it off with the watery-eyed expression of hopefulness, and I get my way. Under the onslaught of my charm, it's nearly impossible to deny me anything (reasonable) my little heart desires.


	2. Up a Tall Tree

**Up a tall tree**

I reached back to straighten out my customary ponytail, flicking my bangs with quick-moving fingertips to make sure they were fluffed and slightly messy - the perfect appearance for a mischievous little kit. I had a few tricks up my sleeve to try on Inuyasha today. Ever since Kagome had made him swear that he wouldn't _seriously_ hurt me while she was gone, I've been testing the limits of his patience with my illusions, knowing I wouldn't pay with my tail if I were to be caught.

I wasn't sure how long he'd continue to fall for the sneaky maneuvers that I kept coming up with, but because of that, I constantly tried new things to see which methods were most effective against the sometimes-overbearing hanyou. It was a decent way to learn how much I could and could not do, I think.

It was hard to hold back a snicker when I thought about what I'd be trying first today. For the last few years, I've been working on perfecting my illusions, and the two hardest things to overcome were forgetting to hide my tail (or losing concentration midway into fooling someone, and it suddenly would appear) and keeping the illusion up long enough to really pull a good prank. I was pretty sure that today would be the day to give Inuyasha a nice scare. In the back of my mind, I had to wonder if – after all my ingenious pranks – would Inuyasha believe his own two eyes ever again? ...And then I had to muffle another bout of giggling.

I took my time searching for Inuyasha, being as quiet as possible - because I knew if he detected my approach before I was ready, he'd never fall for what I had planned. Every few steps I had to stop and hold my breath to stifle another laugh; it was just killing me to keep quiet. Finally, I'd crept close enough to catch his scent on the breeze, which was perfect for me; it meant that the wind was in my favor and would hide my true identity. From the strength of his scent and the speed of the wind, I figured he was probably up in the Goshinboku, waiting for a sign that Kagome had returned.

I pulled a leaf from my pocket and placed it on my head, carefully transforming myself into the image I'd been secretly practicing for a month. I was pretty sure I had it perfect, even to the smallest detail in the clothing... and for the finishing touch, I picked up two sticks and used two more leaves to transform their appearance into the swords we were all _very_ familiar with. Feeling adequately prepared, I carefully tucked them into the sash tied around my waist.

Oh, this would be simply terrible if I could pull it off!

Then came the most difficult part of the trick, keeping a perfectly straight face. I took a deep breath and relaxed into a bored expression, standing as composed and tall as I could manage. The short stroll through the trees would be easy enough, but I had to make sure I stayed quiet enough so that I wouldn't draw any more attention than even the _smallest_ creature that would naturally inhabit the woods. I stepped up to the base of the tree and found my unsuspecting victim dozing lightly on a branch almost out of sight. Perfect.

I knew that Inuyasha could detect each of our energy traces when we were nearby, but we'd all been together for so long that sensing _me_ nearby while he napped would feel as natural as a stray breeze (which meant that he probably wouldn't even notice my presence for a while). I stood in that spot, staring up at him (in the most perfect illusion I think I've _ever_ pulled off, but how _sad_ that no one got to see me hold it so steadily!) for what seemed like ten whole minutes before he finally noticed something was amiss and woke from his little nap.

I saw him shift and look down, and I swear his eyes grew to the size of his own hands before he fell right off his branch and landed with a crash on the other side of the tree. My plan, although small and very dependent on the wind and pure circumstance to be in my favor, had worked perfectly. He would have noticed his brother's approach well in advance because of scent and the humongous field of power that Sesshoumaru seemed to radiate whenever he walked around. (I think it's impossible to _not_ know that Sesshoumaru was in the area ...unless you were unconscious or _dead_.) So imagine poor Inuyasha's surprise when he looked down from that tree...

In a flash, I was off running in the opposite direction, using my kitsune magic to help levitate me high enough to not leave an obvious scent all over the forest floor. It had taken a lot of practice to get any good use out of my flying abilities. Sure, I used to be able to float _really slowly_ when I'd needed to go up sheer cliffs or out of the reach of a nasty youkai, but I've always known that I won't always have someone there to save me... and if I wanted to live to adulthood, I knew I'd need to make it work for escaping quickly and without much of a trail to be hunted by. After seeing Sesshoumaru run once a long time ago, I'd practiced my method and tried new things until I'd discovered exactly how I could mimic the skill. I used a carefully controlled amount of my magic to keep my body levitated mere inches from the ground and kicked off with my toes in a half-run, half-flight. It worked wonders and left very little of my scent trail behind. When I made use of the skill, I could easily keep up with Inuyasha, which made _fleeing_ from him a simple task of zigzagging and moving unpredictably.

Today's trickery had been pure brilliance: the planning, approach, execution, and withdrawal.

' _Kagome will be so proud to hear of today's flawless illusion!'_ I thought, my chest puffing up in pride.

Then again, if I told her... (and I definitely deflated at this thought) ...she might get mad at me for trying to pick a fight with Inuyasha _again_. Damn.

It wasn't long before I'd made enough distance between the possibly enraged hanyou (although, he could have gone looking for Sesshoumaru's scent instead of my own, but regardless how ignorant I thought him to be... I couldn't take that chance) to revert to my normal form, allowing the shift to occur with the pronounced pop that normally occurred if I wasn't _trying_ to be quiet. The 'swords' at my side turned back into sticks, and the leaves I'd used for the illusions fluttered to the forest floor. 


	3. Waiting in the Dirt

It was too bad that my best illusions couldn't stay that way forever - then maybe I could make something really useful for a change. I felt my stomach rumble; it seemed I'd been so excited about my newest plan that I'd forgotten to get something to eat for breakfast. I took a look at the small wristwatch Kagome had given me last month to see what time it was, hoping she would return soon. I missed her company whenever she was gone, and I seriously needed some attention (and the snacks that she always brought back with her.)

I sighed and kicked some dirt with my toe, trying to figure out if I should go back to Kaede's for lunch or not. If Inuyasha saw me now, he might suspect that I was behind his unexpected tumble from his branch (or he already knew and was searching for me right then.) Again, it was something I was not about to risk.

I decided to go find myself something to eat, and took off into the brush, heading toward the stream that flowed nearby. I caught a fish with little effort, cleaned and cooked it with my fox-fire and had eaten before an hour had gone by. With nothing left to do but plot my next illusory adventure, I snuck through the forest to find a good spot to watch for Kagome's return without being discovered by Inuyasha.

It was like this every day that Kagome was gone. We all would have something to occupy our time (or we would find somewhere to be bored in private) and we'd wait for her to come back. Without Kagome here, we didn't do anything fun, we didn't find any shards, we sometimes didn't even talk to each other. Kagome kept us all together, even the simple task of waiting for her to come back kept us from wandering away from the village very often (unless something _really_ needed our attention.) On especially boring days like this I'd find myself wondering, ' _If Kagome left for good, would we all still be friends? Could I count on Inuyasha or Sango or Miroku to watch over me if Kagome wasn't here to do it?_ ' I know I'm getting older, and I like to pretend like I'm able to do everything that they can, but deep down, I know I'm still a little kid that needs to be taken care of.

I still have times where I find myself in a dangerous situation and need to be rescued, moments when I do something wrong and need to be corrected, or even days that I just need a hug because I'm feeling lonely. I know there will soon come a day when I'm old enough that I won't want or need that kind of attention anymore, but I'm not there yet. Not yet. Something's holding me back, and at this rate, I fear I'll be a little kit forever (even though that sounds impossible and really stupid.)

So I sat there, wondering about the finer details of our group while I waited in the shade for Kagome to come back... for everything to go back to normal. I figured that Sango and Miroku would probably be back soon – probably before nightfall – so that we could go hunt shards again in the morning, but they could be anywhere now, doing anything. By anything I mean... well... everyone knows that they're happy being with each other, and I'm pretty sure they're trying to have babies from they way they smell sometimes.

I don't ever want to bring up _that_ subject, and from the blush I caught Inuyasha with one day after they'd returned from a lengthy 'walk,' I'm pretty sure he knew the same thing and didn't want to mention it either. I guess Sango probably told Kagome during one of their baths, as well... We all knew, but nobody admitted they knew (or even dared bring it up), and everyone seemed happy with that idea. Whatever works for them, I suppose...

A while back, I would have been prone to blurting out private information like that without a second thought to whom it may hurt or embarrass, but I learned (the _hard way_ ) to stop talking so much. I'd hurt Kagome's feelings once when I'd repeated something that Inuyasha had muttered earlier that morning, and she'd gone home for an entire week, sealing the well behind her to make sure she wasn't followed. I hadn't repeated his words out of malice, it had just been sheer curiosity: "But Inuyasha said that he's practically dead already... Why are you going to go read to him?" Kagome's grandfather had suffered from something so bad that he had to permanently stay with healers to keep him alive. Obviously, there had been a _reason_ that Inuyasha had not told her those words, instead choosing to gripe about it when she wasn't around to hear... I learned then about the value of silence and secrets... for some things aren't meant to be repeated, especially when you're trying to help a certain miko and hanyou to admit they want to be mates with each other.

That memory brought up other concerns as I lay there on my stomach in the shade, kicking my small feet behind me. I reached to the side to pull a stick from the underbrush, using it to scrape up small bits of leaves and dirt from the ground in front of me. If Kagome and Inuyasha weren't both so stubborn, maybe they'd be able to settle their silly arguments and be happy together like Sango and Miroku are. Why couldn't they get along, anyways? He still, after years of the same routine, yelled at her every time she demanded to go back to her own time, and she, in the same situation, knowing it never changed every time she went back home, still fought with him about it. How could two people that like each other so much argue about the oldest and (in my opinion) silliest thing they'd ever argued about? Going home, not going home... It was their most common dispute. In fact, sometimes it seemed like it was the _only_ thing they argued about.

Maybe Inuyasha likes her so much that he's afraid she'll leave him for someone else. I overheard Kagome telling Sango a story like that once; the girl she knew didn't love her boyfriend anymore and found a new one that was better. That wouldn't have ever happened with _my_ parents, because Father thought my mother was so perfect that he would never find someone better (or as good,) so he did _everything_ to make her so happy that she'd never want to leave. But then, I also knew that my Father was _definitely_ the most handsome and strong kitsune in all the lands, so she would never have wanted anything more. I guess it doesn't help that I still haven't met any kitsune youkai even close to my parents in skill or power, and I could be unbalanced in my concept of beauty since I do tend to think highly of foxes in general...


	4. A Flower Sprouts from Weeds

I accidentally broke my stick as I jammed it under a small bed of thorny weeds and sighed in annoyance. I had been enjoying myself, absently removing the sharp plants from the soft earth as I drifted in my thoughts. There was a small layer of soft foliage struggling to grow that was being strangled out by the unpleasant weeds, and I figured it deserved a fighting chance... My mother (again, with the memories of Mother!) could have guided the plants' growth with her fingers, but I had no such luck with manipulating flora. My specialty, illusions, was inherited from Father, along with my cute little fox-feet.

I stuck my hand back into the bush to see if I could find another stick to resume digging up the roots of the evil weed. Sure enough, my tiny fingers closed around the worn edge of a thin stick, but I almost let go of it in favor of a thicker one. That is, until I tested how strong it was with a firm press into the ground. When it didn't seem to bend or break, I pulled it from the bush and looked at it in confusion. The stick was pretty thin and not very long, but it wouldn't break when I tried to snap it and seemed to be slightly polished. It was also as straight as the pencils in Kagome's backpack, so I immediately checked it for any signs that it may have been one of the strange things that she brought back with her.

But again, I was wrong: it was just a weird looking stick. So, I took my luck and ran with it, using the sharper end to dig at a really nasty, thick root that was keeping the spiny plant firmly anchored to the forest floor. "This would be so much easier on me if it were just some pretty flower," I mumbled, poking at the tiny, harmless-looking leaves that hid the itchy thorns from sight. ' _Flowers_...' I remembered the one time that Kagome came back smelling like strange flowers I hadn't been to recognize. She'd opened one of her books to a picture of something she called a 'lily' flower, saying that the bath salts that her mother had bought recently were to blame, and that this was the flower that she smelled like.

I poked lightly at the weeds again, absently wondering what a flower like that would look like in person, and where they grew in the wild.

Something white caught my attention as I sighed again, and I glanced down to see something I hadn't expected. The relatively tall flower I'd been thinking of from Kagome's book was growing in the spot I'd just been jabbing with the stick. I knew for certain that it hadn't been there when I'd starting digging in those weeds to begin with... so where had it come from?

I slowly leaned over the flower and took a careful sniff, but couldn't detect anything but the weeds that had been there the whole time. I reached out to touch the blossom, and the petals were smooth and soft to the touch, but it held none of the scent that Kagome had carried that day. It was at this point that I had the strange suspicion that the stick I held wasn't just some branch that had been smoothed and sharpened by a random person suffering from intense boredom.

...I had been thinking of that flower when I'd touched the weeds with the stick...

I tapped my fingers together as I considered the possibilities. Perhaps...?

I reached into my pockets and removed a small wooden top, still a favorite toy of mine (and still just as effective for fooling dimwits into thinking they're being attacked by large spinning weapons of doom!) and pictured something that would always make my day brighter: a lollipop! I pointed the stick at the top with the vivid image in mind, and sure enough, (I didn't even have to poke it) it suddenly was a large red lollipop, sparkling in the rays of sunlight that filtered through the trees above. My mouth began to water immediately upon seeing the delectable treat, and I wasted no time in sticking it in my mouth...

...Only to spit it out in horror! My beloved magically created lollipop still tasted like wood and paint! (Oh, what torture!) It seemed to me that I held some sort of... magic wand. Something that cast illusions on things that looked and felt real. It reminded me of the kitsune magic I could use, but without the leaves, sound or puffs of smoke. And I was still unable to make my illusions feel real to the touch. (Father could, but that was only because he'd had a century of practice before I was born.)

The flower held the texture and appearance of being a real flower, but it retained its original scent of the weed it had been before my meddling. My wooden top looked and felt like a real lollipop, but it still tasted just like the toy it had been.

A momentarily evil thought crossed my mind as I looked down at the innocent-looking piece of not-really-candy. I pictured Inuyasha's favorite (chocolate) wrapped in the shiny metallic packaging and shook the strange stick at the top-turned-lollipop. I discovered (much to my delight) that the magic had worked yet again. I grinned so widely that I was sure my face would be stuck like that permanently (the expression was a sure sign that I was about to cause some serious mischief.) I pocketed the candy with a mental note to give it to the unsuspecting hanyou some time later in the day before taking off into the bushes in search of other 'things' to test this strange magic on.


	5. And Horses say 'Meow'

If the unremarkable stick could cause weeds to grow into beautiful flowers and random toys into candy... but left the basic essences of scent and taste the same as it had been before it had changed, then I seriously needed to find out what else it would work on. I had already begun to form an idea of what I would do if I turned out to be right in my suspicions. I silently made my way back toward the village, looking around at the various creatures along the way. A couple of small brown birds chirped and hopped around on the packed dirt road, pecking randomly at bugs hidden in the dirt; a small gray cat licked its paw next to one of the villager's huts. My grip on the stick tightened in anticipation as I racked my memories for something different...

A while ago, Kagome told me the story of a handsome prince who'd rescued the captive princess from a dragon while riding a beautiful white horse. I held back another snicker at the thought of a humongous mythical dragon kidnapping Kaede to hold her captive in a tall tower for an elderly prince to rescue... I knew that having a dragon possibly running amuck in the nearby villages was far too risky, so my thoughts shifted to another, less threatening idea.

My mind finally made up, I looked back at the small cat that had decided to stalk the birds nearby. It shifted on its paws, looking as though it were preparing for a pounce, and I lift the thin stick to point it at the unsuspecting feline. I scarcely had time to blink before a magnificent white steed appeared in its place, still crouched by the wall of the hut. It made its carefully planned leap for the birds, but as it was completely unaware of its new shape and strength, it accidentally bound completely over the now-frightened and scattering birds. The poor, confused animal stumbled slightly as it landed, scrambling back to its feet and looking around in completed bewilderment.

It let out a tremendous meow, (truly the sound of a frightened and angry feline,) before streaking off with a half-stumbling gallop into the nearby woods. I stared in amazement as the horse tried (and failed) to leap into the low-hanging branches of a tree, scraping its hooves against the quickly shredding bark for any sort of grip that would help it ascend into the safety of the branches. It made another very cat-like yowl as it charged even farther into the forest and out of sight. I cautiously moved to the now-mutilated tree and could only find the scent of a cat.

' _So the target keeps its scent, taste, **and** previous behavior, to include its original sounds,' _I thought. I walked back into the woods, deep in thought at the possibilities I now held in my hands. Was there anything that really needed changing for the better? There had to be something that would help our group in its hunt for the shards... ' _Maybe I could use this thing to transform Naraku into a fish_ ,'I thought with a short laugh. ' _I really could, and then he'd be an evil-fish-spider-hanyou that would no longer appear as a threat to anyone... which might be bad, because then no one would take him seriously and we'd all lose the fight against him... and he's a shapeshifter anyways, so he'd get rid of the fish appearance as soon as he figured out...'_

I placed the wand carefully into my vest and took off at a dead run to the spot where I'd been waiting for Kagome's return. There would be time to consider my choices while I kept an eye out for her arrival.


	6. A Coincidental Opportunity

I streaked through the forest, nearing my favored waiting spot as something greenish-gray caught my attention. It was a shinidamachuu! We hadn't come across Kikyo in a while, so the appearance of her soul-stealers was a weird coincidence, and a lucky one at that. I had in my possession something that could turn the clay miko into a clay _pot_ , freeing Inuyasha from his stupid obligation to follow Kikyo to hell. Jeez, they've been going on about that for so long that I can't even remember _when_ he'd even made such a dumb promise. I changed course and followed the floating creature to its mistress.

I approached silently, wondering if I would catch a snippet of their usually private conversations away from the group, but what met my eyes was so totally unexpected that I almost gasped out loud. Kikyo's normally blank expression was turned into a smile as she held Inuyasha's hand. ' _Since when does she ever smile?'_ I thought in confusion. I had previously been under the impression that Kikyo felt nothing other than anger toward her situation, but maybe something had seriously changed since we'd last seen her! The expression she held made her look more human, warming her normally deadpan face into something prettier and (I thought this in horror) maybe even desirable again.

I had to do something! Inuyasha was looking back at her with a smile, too, and I knew at this rate, the relationship we'd all hoped would happen between Kagome and Inuyasha was becoming less and less possible. I fingered the smooth wood in my pocket, wondering what would happen if I just turned her into a rock.

I shuddered at the idea of how angry it could make the irritable hanyou, especially with the close way the two were speaking. There was no hostility, no anger or wariness, just the two of them enjoying the moment. Something big must have happened to change the resurrected miko, at least emotionally. She still smelled like death and dirt, but her personality was definitely altered somehow. Without Kagome or Miroku here, I wouldn't be able to tell if there had been a change in her semi-soul...

So transforming her into a rock was definitely out of the question. I didn't want to risk his wrath by destroying something that had just changed for the better... (especially if that something/someone was a possible ally in the final battle)

But there had to be _something_ I could _do_ to push him back into Kagome's direction! I pouted in my frustration as I took off into the forest, once again heading in the direction of the Bone-Eater's Well. As if right on cue (and I swore then that despite any good luck I'd stumbled across thus far, it had to count as the unluckiest moment _ever_ ,) the shining blue light appeared around the well's opening and I knew she had returned.

I crouched in the bushes, pulling my hair in an attempt to jerk any kind of wonderful idea from my head. Kagome's backpack was tossed over the weathered wooden rim, and she followed shortly afterward, climbing out with practiced ease. She sat on the well's edge for a moment, humming contentedly and brushing her fingers carefully through her shining black locks. It was mid-afternoon, and there seemed to be no obvious reason for her to hurry back to the village.

She had stopped wearing those strange outfits – her uniforms, as she'd called them – a long time ago, opting to wear more colorful (and usually more sturdy) outfits, determined mainly by the season. Pants and long-sleeve shirts kept her warm on the colder days of our travels, but all throughout the warm seasons she'd returned in shorts. Today, she'd decided on a lovely cream sundress, an outfit I'd rarely seen her wear before. ' _Maybe it's new...'_ I thought to myself, and I had the flash of a memory of my mother wearing a kimono of that very same color.

Her crimson hair had been twisted into an elaborate design and pinned back with combs that sparkled in the sunshine, and it had been the time that we had traveled far to the North for some important formal gathering. I had been left for the day with other youkai children in the care of a wizened old neko youkai, and played to my heart's content the entire time. When they'd come back, Father couldn't stop reminding her about how she'd been the most beautiful in attendance, and Mother had blushed when he said that he would have had to fight off every other male youkai there if it hadn't been such a formal occasion.

It was easy for me to connect Kagome with memories of my mother, simply because Kagome was one of the most wonderful and beautiful humans I knew. I could never put my finger on any _physical_ qualities that made her truly stand apart from the rest, but her gentle personality and trusting, open nature quickly ensnared anyone who spent mere moments in her presence. Inuyasha sometimes compared the undead miko and Kagome, and we all knew that they bore slight resemblance to each other.

Maybe... if Kagome were prettier than Kikyo-so pretty that there would be no doubt that she truly was the better of the two-then Inuyasha would want her more. But how could I improve on what she already had?

If I wanted to try and enhance her natural beauty, I'd need to understand the physical qualities that would work the best. Sango had an exotic quality to her, and she easily drew attention from the males we crossed paths with, but men that even spared a second glance in her direction quickly caught on to the deadly efficiency in _everything_ she did, leaving most too frightened of her to even consider speaking to her. Of course, it didn't help that the monk was on the receiving end of punishing strikes that would easily knock out the average male.

We'd encountered numerous human females in the villages we'd traveled through, but they all seemed plain and homely, simple in their attire and attitudes. Kagome easily outshone any of those girls... Even the occasional hime that we'd saved from abduction or possession couldn't quite compare to our Kagome. They were quick to frighten, far too fragile and easily broken... It was as though their beauty simply came from their careful grooming and expensive, intricate outfits and decorations.

Then my thoughts trailed to youkai women we'd crossed paths with. Most had been amazingly beautiful, but their looks were always marred by the obvious taint of evil that wove throughout their actions and expressions. There were a few exceptions... Shiori, the young bat-hanyou we'd met some years ago, would probably grow into a beautiful woman one day, as well as Souten, the youngest Thunder sibling. But, those were just dreams for now, as they would remain childlike for at least another decade... I frowned, trying to single out any _adult_ female that we'd encountered that could be considered the most beautiful...

My rapidly shifting thoughts jerked to a immediate halt. I wasn't sure why I hadn't come to this conclusion sooner, because I'd been reminding myself so _often_ that day about how wonderful and exceptionally beautiful Mother had been... The _only_ adult female I could think of that could be considered prettier than my Kagome was Mother. But mother had been a youkai, with deadly sharp claws, petite fangs, pointed ears and a long, soft tail...

But surely, if Kagome were as beautiful as Mother had been, then she'd have every male within sight falling at her feet in adoration and worship! And then Inuyasha wouldn't want to be with Kikyo anymore, because Kagome would obviously be so much better! My logic made excellent sense, but I knew I couldn't cast a spell on Kagome to make her look exactly like my mother had appeared... If I did that, then she wouldn't be _herself_ anymore. So I had to think of the small changes that would help, without changing too much...

Kagome stood and stretched after she'd finished finger-combing her hair, bending over to pick up her backpack. She slipped her arms through the straps and adjusted it a bit before stepping off in the direction of the village. If Inuyasha hadn't realized she was back yet, he was sure to notice very soon! My time for action was running short, so I made up my mind and pulled the wand from my vest. My body was nearly tingling in anticipation of what I was about to do- just a small change, something that would make her look prettier... Her scent would stay the same, she'd still speak like she had before, and I knew that her spirit would remain just as it had always been... She'd still be our Kagome, so this couldn't possibly hurt! ' _Just make her prettier_...'


	7. Remembering Too Much

I focused on my mother's attributes, trying to pinpoint exactly what had made her so beautiful. Her eyes had been a bright green... the shade was matched with a thin line of color along her top eyelid... ' _That would look nice on Kagome, too,'_ I thought as I twisted the wand between my small fists. ' _The vibrant green had complimented Mother's natural affinity with plants, which responded to her touch as well as-_ ' I don't know why my memories were straying to the unimportant details! I shook my head in an effort to get back into the thoughts of what made Mother so desirable—' _Let's see..._ ' Her lips had been a... a-I couldn't remember the word Father had used, but something Miroku had said once came to mind: ' _Alluring'..._ -an alluring shade of pink... thick and smoky eyelashes that artfully framed her eyes... Her ears had been just like mine, pointed at the tips (and I know Father had been especially fond of nibbling on them, although I'm not sure why)... her hair had been the most beautiful shade of red, just like her tail...and both had been so soft, like the most expensive silks I'd ever touched. ' _But I don't think she'd appreciate the tail, regardless of its advantages.'_

' _What else? I'm forgetting something..._ _Claws and fangs?'_ Mother's had been petite and fit her personality well, but picturing Kagome with the sharp implements seemed a bit... strange. '... _Maybe not_ ,' I began to think to myself as I looked back toward the girl from the future. My mouth fell open in surprise as I saw what I'd inadvertently done: everything I'd pictured had changed on her! I couldn't see the smaller details from this distance, but her ears and hair color had changed, and-! ' _Kagome is going to **kill me** when she discovers that tail! I didn't **want** her to get the tail!'_ Her tail was long enough to brush the ground (which she would have easily noticed) as she walked, but luckily for me, it had curved up and away from the short grass, twisting and wrapping around itself in an obvious display of her happiness that afternoon. That small action, however, lift her skirt indecently, exposing her to the slightly cool breeze. She shivered and rubbed her arm with one hand while she reached for the hem of her skirt with the other, tugging it closer to her legs with a clenched fist.

He could hear her mutter from this distance, "Maybe I should have brought a coat..."

' _Stupid magic!'_ I thought, shaking the harmless looking stick in annoyance. A number of bad phrases I'd heard Inuyasha saying ran through my head, all scrambling for the chance to be the first out of my mouth... I'd only meant to change the little things and give her a slightly new appearance, _not_ _a_ _tail!_ I shook the stick even harder, trying to decide what I should do... I had to think quickly. I wanted to make sure Kagome had all the right _small_ changes, and none of the excessive ones! I breathed out heavily and looked back up at her, raising the wand and _knowing_ that I had to get rid of the tail before it was noticed- ' _Work backwards...? I've got to change...'_

Before I could set my mind on the specific task of removing the tail, the wand was snatched from my fingers, and I found myself looking up at a short, wrinkly old woman. "I lose this damned thing for just a few hours, and already some troublemaking kid has picked it up and caused mischief!" she said, scowling down at me. With the magical object out of my grasp and in the control of someone who looked like she knew _exactly_ how to use it, I found myself frozen in fright. "I should turn you into a toad, you horrible child!" she scolded, glancing back over her shoulder at Kagome, who had almost reached the tree line. "I certainly hope you thought your actions through carefully, young man. I'm sure that whatever punishment I could deal out won't be half as bad as angering that miko," she sneered, vanishing from sight with the smallest burst of sparkles.

' _What the hell just happened!'_ I thought to myself in a panic. ' _Who was...'_

My confused thoughts immediately froze at the sound of Kagome's shrill scream, echoing throughout the forest.


	8. Comforting Omissions

My heart leapt into my throat and I found myself rooted to the spot, with two choices bouncing back and forth in my head: Flee the scene or run to her. Rational thought (and probably any notion of self-preservation) fled my mind as I raced in her direction, more concerned with her well-being than saving my own tail from whatever awaited me.

When I reached her side, she was on her knees in shock, clutching her new tail with her hands, looking at it in half-wonder, half-fear. "Kagome?" I asked, my voice a mere whisper. I was supremely afraid of what she would say. Would she hate me? Would she refuse to speak to me ever again? She tore her eyes away from the soft fur of her newest appendage to gaze down at me with wide, newly green-rimmed eyes.

"Shippo..." she murmured, opening her arms so that I could climb into her embrace. She held me so tight that suddenly I felt like I'd been the worst kit ever. "I... I have a _tail_..." she said, her voice wavering. I looked up into her face, searching her expression for the blame and condemnation for what I'd done to her... but her eyes were shut tight as she held me. ' _She doesn't know I'm to blame...'_ I realized, wondering if she'd noticed the other changes that had happened. "What... what _happened_ to me?"

I really didn't know what to do. I felt confused and completely stupid, knowing I had just turned Kagome's world upside down without even trying. Maybe I should have _told_ her the idea and gotten an idea of what she'd like before going through with it on my own. I nuzzled my face into the crook of her neck in a measure of comfort, patting her cheek with one of my small hands. "I think you look pretty," I whispered with a smile, hoping with my whole being that she wouldn't be terribly angry. She opened her eyes and looked down at me, returning my smile with another tight hug.

"Thank you, Shippo," she said, standing with me still clutched in her arms. She looked around warily before moving once again in the direction of the village. "We need to get to Kaede's quickly. I..." she swallowed once in her nervousness. "I don't know who did this, or if they're still around. We need to go find everyone..." I gulped, once again wracked with the guilt that I knew exactly what had happened to her. I was stuck with indecision: should I tell her what happened _now_ (and set her current fears to rest) or wait until they figured it out to admit what I'd done?

It didn't take long for me to reason that, if I told her now, she'd be angry for sure... but it would _only_ be because she hadn't had a chance to see how _lovely_ she looked yet! I couldn't help but gaze up at her admiringly, for the changes that had happened had only served to enhance her looks. To me, she was truly the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen, maybe even prettier than Mother had been. Surely, Inuyasha would be unable to resist her now! The guilt was allayed momentarily as I stared up at her.

She must have noticed my awed stare, because she blushed slightly and looked away. "So, it doesn't look that bad?" she asked, running a tongue carefully over a sharp fang. When I shook my head in response, she sighed and began walking down the trail to the village. "I don't really feel much different," she admitted. "But the tail feels a little funny, and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to accidentally kill myself with these claws," she held up her hand to show me the razor-sharp edges. I bit my lip in thought, wondering if her teeth and nails really would damage her still-frail skin. After all, I hadn't taken away her humanity with my hasty actions...

I took her hand in my own as she walked quickly (almost running) toward the village, pressing one of her small claws against my palm and pulling it along the skin. If it could cut me, _then_ we'd have something to worry about; human nails, no matter how sharp, shouldn't be able to draw my blood with an accidental swipe. I breathed a sigh of relief at the mere tickling sensation from her claw, satisfied that it wouldn't do much damage. "Just don't bite your lip anymore when you're thinking real hard," I cautioned, knowing that the tender skin would be easily punctured. I'd _really_ not meant to give her claws or fangs or a tail, but it seemed that everything I'd thought while I was shaking that damned thing around came to pass. I was just extremely lucky that I didn't change her into the spitting image of my mother; regardless of how beautiful she was- I didn't think Kagome would appreciate losing her identity to _that_ extent. At least, this way, she was still easily recognizable as herself...

"What the fuck!" Kagome jumped at the harsh tone, nearly colliding with the confused hanyou as he dropped into our path. I watched as his eyes widened in total shock at her altered appearance. He scented the air with a look of disbelief, narrowing his eyes at her. "What did you do?" he asked, but neither of us missed the note of accusation directed at her.

Kagome choked on her reply, tightening her grasp of my smaller frame. I could catch the scent of her tears as they threatened to spill. I clutched the thin material of her dress tightly with my small hands, burying my face in her warmth. I was terrified that he'd reject the choices I'd made; I didn't want to cause Kagome more unhappiness than what she'd already endured. I heard him shift closer, and the sleeve of his haori brushed my back as he reached a hand out to touch her. I took a peek at the two of them, hoping and praying that I hadn't _completely_ ruined everything.

His fingers had looped around a lock of her newly red hair, and he ran his thumb across it with a look of confused wonder. "You look like..." he said, his voice barely audible. I gulped, knowing that he would definitely recognize what she now resembled. My thoughts were confirmed as he glanced down at me for the briefest of moments. "What happened?" he asked, smartly rephrasing his question to sound less like an accusation.

She sniffled once, then quickly wrapped her free arm around the hanyou, pulling him into her embrace. I found myself squashed between the two of them, but the realization that she immediately latched onto him for support in her confusion was comforting and made the whole strange situation seem worthwhile. "This isn't one of Shippo's illusions?" he asked, pulling back to take a closer look at her.

"No, I don't think so... Is it, Shippo?" she inquired, looking down at me with some hope shining in her eyes. I shook my head in response, and almost cried at the despondent look that shadowed her expression. She was confused and upset, and I'd been the cause of it all. I wasn't able to squash the tiny thrill that I harbored after seeing how very beautiful her changes made her, but the guilt weighed me down, overly heavy in my mind.

Would they suspect that I'd lied, that I'd _really_ been behind it all? I _had_ been working diligently on my illusions, so maybe they would think I'd discovered a new skill... But then again, I've never been able to keep my illusions for long, so they wouldn't suspect me for long, if at all.

' _Wait, what am I thinking!'_ I was trying to convince myself that they wouldn't think I'd been the cause... If I just told them what had really happened, then I wouldn't _need_ to beat myself up about whether or not I'd be discovered. Yet, if I told them _now_ what I'd done, then everyone may run off to find the old witch that took back her wand in an attempt to change Kagome back! Then I wouldn't get a chance to see if my changed had helped any or not... and I didn't want that to happen, _not yet._

As Kagome held the two of us tightly, seeking her comfort from our embraces, I made up my mind to hold my tongue for a little while longer. If they gave it some time, they would surely find that her new looks were better in the long run. I nuzzled my face into her warmth, trying to swallow back the nagging fear that maybe I had been wrong about everything, especially in keeping the secret.


	9. Spilling the Beans

Our arrival at Kaede's village was uneventful for the most part; I was slightly surprised that her bright red hair didn't draw any extra attention from the few villagers we could see in the field nearby. We made it to Kaede's hut quickly, avoiding the few odd looks we'd managed to attract. Kaede looked up in surprise from her spot by the fire, her herb-grinding forgotten. "By the gods, what happened?" she demanded, her eyes widening as she carefully stood. Kagome slipped to her knees on the floor, her tail curling around her legs in a circle of warmth as she stared at the fire.

"I have no idea... I climbed out of the well, and I remember sitting there for a moment while I ran my fingers through a few tangles. My hair was definitely still black then. I stood up, grabbed my backpack, and started walking. I'd made it a little into the woods when something furry brushed my ankle, and it scared me, so when I jumped back in surprise, it wrapped _around_ my leg and I panicked..."

"I heard you scream, Kagome," I said, looking up at her with an unhappy frown. "Did the tail make you do that?" She nodded, picking up the end of her new tail and running her fingers through the soft fur. "Are you sad?" I asked her quietly, shifting in her lap some to touch her tail as well.

"No, not sad, just... confused," she admitted, slipping her backpack from her shoulders to dig around in one of the pockets. She pulled out a small mirror from her waterproofed bag of bathing supplies, looking critically at her reflection. "I look like a youkai now..." she whispered, running a finger along the tip of her pointed ear, then across the green edge of her eyelid. "But I know I'm not any different on the inside... I can feel it... It's really like one of your illusions, Shippo," she said. "And the red hair, the tail, your ears... I look like I could pass as your mother, I bet." My eyebrows shot up in surprise, for I hadn't thought that she'd make that connection so quickly.

Inuyasha shot me a terribly suspicious glare as she trailed off and I cringed away from his critical expression. "Runt, you didn't _really_ have anything to do with this, did ya?" he growled out, cracking his knuckles ominously. I choked on my answer, suddenly so scared of what he might do to if I were to tell them the truth.

"Inuyasha," Kaede scolded. "Shippo could not have caused this change in Kagome. There is a strange magic to blame, something I've not seen in a very long time."

"So, you know how to fix her?" he asked, turning his attention back to Kaede as she sat down behind her herbs again.

"No, I do not possess such knowledge," she replied, a sigh escaping her as she steadily worked the pestle into the dried leaves. "I am unsure that such a change can be reversed. Someone that might be able to help lives far to the south on a small island. She prefers her peace and quiet, so seeking her out may prove to be difficult. When your comrades return from their trip, we'll talk more about the specifics of the journey. For now, I'd suggest Kagome take some time to make sure she will have no difficulties in traveling or participating in battle."

Kagome nodded and stood, taking her bow and arrows with her as she exited the hut. I stood and watched her leave with Inuyasha following close behind, gnawing on my lower lip in slight worry. I was confident that her powers would remain the same, but at the same time, the slight twinge of doubt began to chip away my self-assurance, and I realized that I would have to _see_ her with her usual powers to reaffirm my confidence. I glanced back at Kaede as I moved to join them outside, but the knowing look in her gaze made my face drain of color.

"You must tell her, Shippo, before she finds out some other way." I froze, halfway through the thatch covering the entrance, completely at a loss for words at her blunt statement. My body chose its own response: an obviously slack jaw and a thoroughly frizzed tail (that _always_ happens when I stress about something big.) "And... Taro might appreciate the new horse, but that cat was a long-time member of their family," she said, turning her gaze back to the powdered medicinal herbs.

' _She knew...!_ ' I thought, my throat closing over a terribly large knot of panic. I nodded jerkily (still unable to speak from apprehensive fright) and raced from the hut, spooked by the implication of Kaede's words. Would Kagome _hate_ me for what I'd done if I didn't tell her the truth right away? Kaede had already told us that there was a lady that could fix her on that island, so telling them _now_ wouldn't ruin my plan anymore than I'd previously wanted... _Right_? Would she be so terribly upset with my meddling that... Oh, I couldn't even bear the thought of Kagome being displeased with her new appearance.

All I'd wanted to do was help her...

I stopped momentarily and squashed the mounting tears that that threatened, knowing that I should control the display of weakness before someone noticed. I straightened myself and walked with forced confidence to the clearing where I knew Kagome liked to practice, building the courage I'd need to have to tell her what I'd done. Inuyasha was leaning against a nearby tree, watching her shoot hamaya into a single trunk across the field. He observed her motions with a critical gaze, a partial frown on his face. I approached him quietly, not wanting to draw attention to myself. Although I was curious what he thought of what had happened, I doubted he'd just tell me out of the blue.

"That was a good imitation of Sesshoumaru today," he said gruffly, folding his arms across his chest. I looked up at him in confusion, for it was rare that he'd compliment me on one of my tricks, _especially_ when said trick had been designed solely to irritate _him._ He smirked down at me, flashing a fang in amusement.

"You're not angry with me?" I asked, shocked that he found my annoying antics even a little bit acceptable.

"Nah, there are worse things in life," he replied, looking back at Kagome as she fired off another brightly glowing arrow. "Did you see anyone suspicious today?"

 _'Well, here goes nothing...'_ I thought, hoping I'd still have my tail come nightfall. "I saw an old lady in the woods just after Kagome came through the well."

Obviously not expecting a helpful answer from me, Inuyasha's eyebrows rose in surprise. "What was she doing?"

"She came out of nowhere, yelled at me, then vanished-"

"Wait, why would some random old hag yell at you?" He seemed to be slipping back into the suspicion that I'd been responsible for the whole mess, and he crouched down in front of me with narrowing eyes.

"I... I found something of hers..." I started, unsure of how I could tell him what I'd done, and _definitely_ not while he was staring at me with such annoyance. He continued to drill me with that sharp gaze, and I was shaking so hard that I was surprised that I remained standing.

It didn't take long for me to break, crying out the terrible secret of what had happened. "I didn't _mean_ to do all of that! I was just trying to _help!_ " I wailed, not caring what he thought of my terrible outburst of emotions. Tears were streaming down my face by that time, and I was distraught and frantic that they'd shun me forever because I'd done something so drastic to the miko we all loved so much.

Kagome must have noticed my distress, for she'd dropped her bow and arrows where she'd been standing and rushed to my side. "Shippo! What's wrong? What happened?"

Inuyasha huffed and sat back on his heels. "I knew the kit had something to do with this..." he muttered.

"What?" Kagome asked, looking down at me in confusion. I tried so hard to contain the tears that continued to appear, but to no avail. In between many coughs, sniffles and hiccupping, teary-eyed sobs, I managed to eek out my shortened version of the story: "I... I found this stick... that cast really... good illusions... I thought... it would help!"

Kagome frowned down at me, causing a fresh wave of disappointment and guilt to wash over me. The tears and sobs were so loud that I almost didn't hear what she said next: "Shippo... what did you think would help? This is just an illusion like the ones you can do?" I wasn't sure I could tell her exactly _how_ I'd meant for the spell to help her (admitting that the sole purpose was to make Inuyasha want her more seemed like something that should be kept secret,) so I avoided the first question by nodding miserably in response to the second. Well, I wasn't _exactly_ sure if the strange magic could be considered similar to my own, since it would take me a few hundred years to develop magic strong enough to make my illusions _felt_ as well as seen.

"So I'm just a miko in disguise, now?" she asked, her mouth turning into a small smirk. I nodded in misery, tears still coming so quickly that I was unable to see very clearly. "Oh, Shippo, don't cry. It's alright..." she said, pulling me into another possibly-undeserved hug. Her bright red locks fell over her shoulder as she embraced me, and I buried my nose in her soft hair, trying to quell the urge to cry even harder. Relief that she wasn't completely horrified and angry at my impulsive actions slowly began to edge into my thoughts as she patted my back reassuringly, whispering words of comfort.

I sniffled and hiccupped a few more times, watching her tail from the corner of my eye as a stray breeze ruffled the fur. "You..." I started, unsure if I should continue the question or just shut up while I still had the ability to pretend like everything would be all right, "you're not upset about what I did, are you?" I dared not breathe as I looked up at her face, waiting for her answer.

"I'm not mad at you, Shippo. This is just... surprising, and terribly unexpected. I hope Kaede's right about the lady that can help, though... I don't think I'd be able to pass as a normal human back home anymore," she winked down at me. "Maybe it'll fade just like your illusions do, with a little bit of time," she suggested hopefully, smiling softly down at me. I nodded slightly, casting a glance at the silent hanyou. He looked upset with me, but I could tell that Kagome's response had softened his anger into something less imposing. He stood again and looked away toward the horizon, placing one of his hands on the hilt at his side.

"Sango and Miroku should be back soon, so don't go far. We're leaving as soon as we get details from Kaede," he ordered before leaping off into the nearby woods.


	10. For the Better

"Shippo," Kagome whispered, looking down at me intently. "Why?"

My expression shifted from one of relief to a wary look of uncertainty. "I wanted..." I began, unsure of how to tell her the _REAL_ reason why I had used the magic to change her looks.

"Why do I look like you?" she continued, looking down at me with a strange sort of smile.

' _Oh... she doesn't think this is about Inuyasha, she thinks it is about **me**..._' I had to stop and think about my decision more carefully. It was true I'd tried to make her more beautiful to others, but... maybe the choice I'd made had the underlying desire to have someone more like my long-lost mother. I didn't really consider that while I was racking my mind for pretty features, but it felt like it could be a big reason behind what had been done. "I wasn't trying to turn you into my mother," I whispered, reaching up to touch her face in slight reverence. "But I _did_ want you to..." I trailed off, still unable to spill the ultimate goal I'd had in mind.

"Shippo, what are you trying to tell me?" she asked, sitting back in the grass with me in her lap. "You know that I'm always going to be with you, no matter what happens," she murmured, running her fingers through my bangs in affection. "We're like this," she said, holding up her other hand to show two fingers twisted around one another. "Always together, right here," she finished, touching her crossed fingers to my heart.

If I told her I wanted her to be prettier, then she might think I considered her ugly in her old form... So how could I possibly word my intentions without insulting her? "I ...wanted Inuyasha to see you as..." I paused, scrambling for a decent end to the sentence. "See you as you... and not as _her,"_ I finished rather lamely, waiting for her response.

She quirked her eyebrows in understanding, only a mild hint of concern visible in the slight crease of her brow. "Shippo," she whispered, nuzzling her cheek against my head. "Inuyasha and I..." she began, and suddenly I realized that there was far more to their relationship than they had let on. "We decided a while ago that we would be friends, and nothing more. Kikyo..." she trailed off, her voice taking a strange, faraway quality, "Kikyo discovered a sacred spring during her travels in the East, and it washed away her negative emotions, leaving her with a sense of peace that she'd long forgotten. She vowed the last time we saw her to help us any way that she could."

She sighed and pulled away from me slightly, looking down at my expression of confusion with a soft smile. "She's changed, Shippo. She's become more like her old self, and it is what Inuyasha needs. I don't think that she's going to be sent to hell after her journey is at an end. She deserves a second chance, some measure of peace for the pain she's been through."

I knew my mouth was gaping wide open, but I hadn't thought much of it until Kagome's fingers gently pushed it closed again. I was completely thrown off-guard by her unexpected response. I had no idea that Kikyo had changed _that_ much... From what I'd seen in the woods, it had been only the smallest hint of something good, and I was terribly relieved that I'd _not_ turned her into... "Kagome," I whispered, the memory lending a mischievous glint to my eyes, "while I had that magic, I almost turned her into a _rock_..."

Kagome coughed and choked on a sudden laugh. "You _didn't!_ " she exclaimed, highly amused by my declaration.

"I also turned Taro's cat into a horse," I admitted, fishing around in my pocket for the other piece of evidence as she giggled some more. "And this was one of my toys a little while ago," I said quietly, casting a suspicious glance around to make sure Inuyasha wouldn't discover my little plot.

"Why did you do that to one of your toys?" she asked, fingering the metallic wrapper.

"To fool Inuyasha," I whispered, biting back a giggle. She cast a dubious glance at the candy bar, her eyebrow quirking in slight amusement. "It still tastes like wood and paint," I added.

"Ah," she nodded in understanding. "Sneaky, very sneaky," she winked at me, a smile gracing her lips. Our troubles seemed momentarily forgotten as we stared off across the field. The sun had traveled a bit farther, nearing the horizon as the day drew to a close. I related the events of the day, showing her my brilliant illusion of Sesshoumaru (to which she stared up at in awe while I did my best to hold the trademark bored expression.) She tried to force her mouth into a frown when I told her of the horse trying unsuccessfully to leap into the tree, but she found it impossible as I related more about the cat-like behavior of the supposedly magnificent white steed.

My stories of the strange day amused her greatly, but when I remembered about my first accidental use of the magic wand, turning the weed into a lily, she immediately stood and picked up her bow. "I want to see!" she said, running across the field to retrieve the arrows that were still embedded in the wide trunk of an old tree. We made our way back through the woods in the slowly waning light, quickly finding the spot where I had lain in wait for her return.

"Here," I said, pointing between two decent-sized bushes. She knelt down to take a look and gasped. "Shippo! It's beautiful! I'm amazed that you remembered this flower," she said, shooting a grin back at me. She leaned forward to smell the white blossom, frowning a bit in her disappointment. "You were right, it doesn't smell like it should. Oh well," she stood and brushed off her hands and knees, looking down at me with a smile. "Let's go see about some dinner, shall we?" she asked, holding her arms open for me.

I leapt into her embrace, feeling infinitely better about what I'd done, even though I knew that my wish to draw Inuyasha and her together would never come true. "You didn't think I was ugly before or something, did you?" she asked, a smirk on her face as she glanced down at me. I knew then that she'd had no such worries about her previous appearance, nor did she really think that I'd considered her to be unattractive.

"Nah, the girls around here could never be prettier than you," I said, rubbing my face against her arm. I felt her squeeze me gently with a quiet chuckle.

She walked slowly in the growing darkness, but in no time it seemed as though we'd arrived at the edge of the village. "Shippo," she asked, a strange note of seriousness slipping into her voice, "What am I to you?"

"Family," I replied immediately, knowing it to be the complete truth. She wasn't my mother, sister, aunt or cousin, she was just _family._ "You're all my family," I whispered, feeling a bit drowsy as the contentment of being cradled in her arms washed over me. Of course, it didn't help my situation much when her soft tail draped over my slowly relaxing form, and I felt myself drifting off into emotionally exhausted sleep.


	11. Interlude - Kikyo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sacred spring in the middle of a ruined temple holds the key to Kikyo's happiness.

_Some time ago..._

A single brown bird twittered cheerfully on a blossoming branch overhanging a rarely tread pathway. The crunch of sandals against smooth pebbles disturbed its song, and it gazed curiously down upon the young woman that passed beneath its perch. The ruins were overgrown with vines, and the carefully hewn columns of red-veined stone had cracked in some places. She passed between two of the tallest, reaching out to trail her fingers along the cool surface with a measure of reverence. Her soul ached with the burning anger of vengeance, but in these rare moments of peace, she could almost hear the soothing song of inner balance.

She stood in the entryway to a once-great temple lined with weeds and shattered stonework. The temple appeared to have been ravaged by war long ago, torn asunder in various parts and left to the destruction offered by the passage of time. The atmosphere seemed grey and subdued, and life seemed almost frozen in time, with only the mutters of long-forgotten ghosts to fill its empty halls.

The stale air shivered in the chilled wake of those wandering spirits, but the energy that had accumulated over time left random blossoms of warmth in the air. These were sensations that Kikyo could not feel or appreciate, but the fragmented pieces of her stolen soul cried out to those that wandered the crumbling halls, asking for something it could not have - peace.

The circular arrangement of stone columns seemed to center upon a single depressed portion of the ruins. Her footsteps echoed dully as she stepped carefully down the broken stairs and over shattered, unrecognizable statues. The burbling of water met her ears within a few moments, and she felt compelled to stop before her destination came into sight. _'This is what I have traveled so far to find...'_

Awe overwhelmed her as she approached the fountain. Rumored to be mystical in nature and capable of granting any wish -at a price- it was one of the most sought-after locations in all the southern isles. Most never found it, and the few that may have stumbled upon the ancient ruins were never seen again.

She carefully approached the motionless center of the depression and stared down into the bottomless depths of the dried fountain. It burbled noisily with unseen water as though tempting passers-by to approach and take a sip.

She knelt upon the smooth stones and bowed, draping her hands into the empty darkness. "Honored spirits, heed my call." Her voice was cool and indifferent, but the ghost of nervous anxiety floated through her mind as a reminder of the humanity she'd left behind with her death.

"Consumer of stolen souls, what is it that you desire?" Dozens of voices echoed throughout the ruins, from the depths of the dried fount, to the countless columns in various states of ruin.

She closed her eyes and tried to remember the exact wording of her request. Her wish had been carefully thought out, for the price in exchange was whispered to be very steep, and one misspoken word could prove fatal to someone undeserving...

The spirits spoke again before her choice had been uttered aloud. "Your wish has pleased us, great priestess."

Her eyes flew open, and she might have gasped in surprise -had she reason to breathe. "The price?" she whispered, already feeling spiritual warmth flooding her limbs. She could not wish for life, for her time to live had long passed, nor could she ask for a soul that rightfully belonged to another-

"In ten summers' time, you shall return to this place and your spirit will be bound to our temple. Your compassion, strength, and skills are needed here." Kikyo nodded once in understanding and acceptance, and her eyes closed once again as she awaited the gift of the sacred spring.

Her exhalation was warm with renewed strength, and she felt a strange tickle of sensation sweep across her false skin as several formless beings slipped around her shoulders and waist. She watched in slight curiosity as they settled against her robes and dissolved into an evaporating mist.

The change was immediately apparent as she felt the cool breeze lift her hair and the warmth of the afternoon sun on her face. The unnatural burn of her anger and hate began to fade as though doused with the trickling water now visible within the ancient fountain. It tickled her outstretched fingertips with possibilities and purpose, and she rose on steady feet to cast her gaze upon the dozens of spirits standing around her on the shining stairs. The ruins now appeared as perfect and whole as it had before the wars, ethereal and shining and flawless in its design.

"Great priestess, for your careful consideration of the lives your wish might have affected, we have bestowed upon you this gift. We await your return, sister," the spirits spoke in unison as clarity and peace filled her clay body with warm light.

Magic rippled through her body and tingled all the way down through the tips of her toes. It was a strange experience, for she knew she still possessed a body of dirt and bones, but through the spirits' blessing, she'd received a closer connection with the sensations that made her _feel_ human. Her sight and hearing still seemed as sharp as they had before, but now her world seemed brighter and full. In comparison to this moment of almost pure sensation, her un-life had slid by in muted colors and bland sound.

The sun reached its zenith in the sky as Kikyo finally left the sparkling temple. The spirits had connected with her body and soul, and she was now a part of the magic surrounding the ancient grounds. A small girl in a white tunic waved slowly from her seat upon a pristine gold wall, and Kikyo returned the wave with a slow smile as she relished the simple joy of inner tranquility.

She waited a moment for the _shinidamachuu_ to appear and lift her into the sky. As she glided slowly along the humid summer breeze, she turned her face toward the sky to enjoy the warmth of the sun that splashed against her skin until it dipped below the horizon.


	12. On Our Own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo travel to the south to seek out a possible cure for Kagome's new 'affliction'.

I woke some time later, feeling warm but disoriented. I was cradled snugly in the crook of an arm, and I could feel the slightly rough texture of Inuyasha's familiar red haori against my face. His woodsy scent was stronger than Kagome's from where I lay, giving me the distinct impression that I had been in his grasp for a while now. Hesitant to believe what my own nose told me, I cracked open the eye that wasn't squashed against a forearm to verify what I'd guessed: Inuyasha held me almost carefully as he leapt over a moonlit forest.

He spared a glance in my direction as he realized I'd woken, sliding his arm up enough so that I could scramble onto his shoulder to perch next to Kagome. I smiled in affection at the sight; her arms were draped loosely around his shoulders and her ruffled red bangs hid her face from sight. It took little effort to burrow under Inuyasha's heavy silver mane to get a better glimpse of her peaceful face – she must have fallen asleep a while ago.

The moon shone brightly in the sky, illuminating the treetops and hillsides as we sped toward the south. "Where are the others?" I asked, curious why Inuyasha had been holding me. Usually, any time I take naps during our trips, it's on Kirara's back, where there are fewer difficulties for the others as we travel.

"I wanted to leave and they weren't back in time. We've been on the move since sundown. Kaede gave us the directions, but it could take us a week to get there at the pace we normally travel. We can make the best time if it's just us."

"Are they going to follow us once they get back?"

He shook his head slightly as he kicked off again on a large branch. "They'll never catch up at this rate, unless they meet us along the way back."

I clutched the fabric on his shoulder tightly between my fingers, letting my mind wander into what might lay ahead for us...


	13. The Impossible Possibilities

A fantastic, overly colorful fairy-tale setting slowly appeared in my mind, complete with snow-capped mountain ranges and fork-like trees sporting all colors of leaves. Kagome's hair fell all the way to the floor in perfectly groomed, shining tresses, and she wore a flowing gown of sparkling green. The setting reminded me of the bedtime stories Kagome would occasionally tell me...

Kagome and I took a peaceful walk through the strange fork-tree forest as her melodious song flowed through our surroundings. The birds seemed strangely intelligent as they came to perch in nearby branches, enthralled with her lilting voice and radiant , a horrible dragon youkai swooped down upon us, catching us completely unaware! It breathed upon us great columns of fire, causing us to run and flee for our safety.

We seem to be completely at its mercy, with no real shelter or place to hide from its terrible undeserved wrath, and we were certain we would both meet our doom in its jaws as freshly cooked dragon-treats. But then, out of apparently nowhere - Taro's cat-turned-magnificent-white-steed meow-neighed nearby, and a knight in shining silver and white armor galloped into the scene!

With a carefree "Ha-ha!" and a single swipe of his powerful youkai blade he destroyed the dragon, lopping its head cleanly from its shoulders. Surprisingly, none of the blood that sprayed forth from severed arteries landed upon any of our still-perfect clothes, and Kagome stood gracefully to greet the man who saved us both...

He pulled the shining helmet away from his head, revealing a handsome and debonair male kitsune! Of _course_ , Kagome and the new youkai fell immediately in love, and the three of us rode off into the sunset...

I coughed once to hide the snickers that crept forth, for a kitsune would _never_ rely upon a horse for transportation... We pride ourselves on many things, including swift movement _without_ assistance like a wild animal. But still... it would make quite a fairy-tale, and I made a note to draw the colorful image with my crayons when we got home.

My imagination took little time to come up with another fantastic idea, in which – during one of our travels to search for shards – we happened upon a youkai who recognized Kagome as the long-lost daughter of the royal family. As she was the supposed last remaining link to the royal bloodlines, no amount of talking worked to convince her new followers of the truth (her humanity), so hordes of loyal and desperate subjects bowed to her (unwilling) will.

They insisted that she overthrow the current evil-dictator and take his place as ruler, and once Kagome had agreed to such a task, I _knew_ I'd be able to keep Kagome with me forever in the Feudal Era! Kagome could _never_ leave behind such a huge responsibility as leading and caring for thousands of subjects in need of her. ...And every queen needs a king; so of course, she had innumerable suitors lined up at the palace gates to ask for her hand in marriage! Kagome made her selection from the finest males available...

...Or even... Maybe the magic eventually transformed her into an all-powerful goddess of war! (You never know for sure, because it _is_ magic...) She was suddenly able to use a fantastic mixture of awe-inspiring miko powers and youkai strengths to defeat Naraku in a dazzling display of lights and explosions, destroying the well in the process so that she couldn't return home. But she wasn't sad, because of course with all of her newfound power she'd be able to live long enough to see her family again.

Then, I was able to call the scariest and most intimidating woman in all of Japan (maybe even the world) my _personal_ cuddle-spot (I mean Mother, really...) And that kind of power was respected and coveted far and wide, and hundreds of handsome males fell at her feet to win her affections, and Kagome was happy...

My mind swirled with snippets and glances of other fantastic images, and I found it more and more difficult to come up with a single idea that could be considered realistic... I've always had problems with my imagination running wild like that, and I knew that if I continued to make up excellent dreams about me keeping Kagome forever, I'd just be terribly disappointed when none of those fantasies came true in the end. And recently, it's seemed that every time I've tried to picture Kagome living 'happily ever after,' I've conjured up the image of a random (usually youkai) male, one that both she and I would like.


	14. Like the Wind

During our fast-paced travel, Inuyasha rarely stopped to rest, carrying Kagome and myself the entire way. Of course, we made short breaks on occasion to eat and take care of personal needs, but his drive to undo what I had done seemed to be even more pronounced than our search for Naraku had been these last several months. It was as though, after months of building up anxious energy to _do_ something, Inuyasha had a nearly endless supply of running power. Twiddling one's thumbs and scowling at trees just couldn't compare to finally having something very important to focus his energy on, even if it _was_ something as trivial as Kagome's change in appearance.

I wasn't terribly concerned about Kagome's new look, since I knew she was the same miko we knew and loved, regardless of her hair color or her tail or anything else I'd changed of hers. I loved everything new about her, maybe even more than I had before, simply because I now had the best of both worlds in one: Kagome and -in a way- my long-lost mother. I still feel selfish about my desire to keep her changed appearance... But it just feels so _right_ when she tucks me under her chin ...so I can't complain.

The wind whipped around us, but the normal biting chill had long since faded to something balmy and warm, due to the changing climate after the long distance we'd managed to travel.

Kagome had once asked Inuyasha how many miles an hour that he could travel... Of course, he'd had no idea, so he'd responded the best way he knew how: "More than you, bitch." Her response to that had been a small, amused smile before she tried to help him understand what she'd been asking.

It's strange, how his offensive words used to be able to ruffle Kagome into bouts of shouting with the dog-eared hanyou (usually generously laced with a few well-placed 'sit' commands) but his constant use of them seemed to have numbed her to the previously angering effect his thoughtlessness incurred. Kagome doesn't really ever get _mad_ at Inuyasha anymore, but they still occasionally have their moments of friendly spats and disagreements.

Two days after we began our rushed journey to the south, Inuyasha stopped late into the night so that he could get a few hours of sleep. ...Well, Kagome _insisted_ that he stop before he ran himself to death ...and of course, Kagome can motivate Inuyasha to do near anything with a few easily-understood glares (packed with the unspoken promise of excessive, unforgiving gravity coupled with dirt-consumption.) I could understand Kagome's insistence that he get some rest, for his motivation to change Kagome back was so driving that the two of us became worried for his health, as well as our own.

If Inuyasha ended up pushing himself to his limit in his mad rush to undo a spell that merely altered appearance, then we could be left at the mercy of whatever terrible youkai came upon us next. Sure, we'd been lucky in the last few months, with fewer attacks and less fighting than we'd grown accustomed to over the last few years, but such a lull could also be a sign that Naraku was (once again) plotting something terrible and needed time to gather and prepare all of his resources at hand.

Inuyasha begrudgingly set us on the forest floor before leaping into a tree to nap on a sturdy branch. He'd ordered us to sleep in the tree with him once before, but on that night, Kagome had a particularly scary dream... She'd jerked from sleep so abruptly that she'd nearly fallen from her perch next to Inuyasha. She was saved only by the fact that she'd somehow gotten a death grip on Inuyasha's silvery locks. Inuyasha never suggested that she sleep in the trees again.


	15. Once Upon a Time

After Inuyasha had left us in silence, Kagome sat down at the base of the tree, holding out her arms for me to climb into her embrace. "Are you tired, Shippo?" she asked. I shook my head in response, knowing that with my head resting against the crook of her arm and her abdomen, she'd feel it in the dark. "I'm not tired either," she admitted, tilting her head back to glance at the few stars that could be seen overheard. The canopy of leaves was thick above us, only allowing occasional patches of broken moonlight to spill upon the surrounding forest.

"Tell me a story," I whispered, reveling in the warmth of her arms. It seemed so perfect - how her slim fingers smoothed the slightly curled fur of my tail, the soothing lull of her heartbeat against my right ear... Her soaps made her smell more like apples than anything else, but I would always recognize the subtle differences that made her scent unique. Most humans in this age didn't believe in the benefits of bathing like Kagome did, and so they would carry the earthy scent that came from long hours in the fields and living in dusty villages. ...This, of course, was irritating to any youkai with enhanced sense of smell. I've lost count of how many times I've breathed a silent thanks to the kamis above that deemed me worthy of the only good-smelling human woman...

"Once upon a time..." she began, wrapping her soft tail around us both to ward off the slight evening chill. I allowed my mind to drift off in the pleasant haze of her lulling voice, but soon her words became my thoughts and I lost track of what she'd been saying. I knew I must have dozed off, because I don't think any of Kagome's stories resemble the memories of my childhood.

_...and the little kit walked alone, further than he'd ever walked before, slipping quietly as possible through the trees around him. Small insects chirped and chattered, calling to one another in the cool still of night. His target was in sight just ahead, barely lit with thin beams of illumination from the full moon above. There was no breeze this evening, not even the smallest hint of motion among the grayish green foliage. A small twig snapped underfoot, but his quarry didn't move a muscle, not even a twitch to signify that he'd been heard. Almost within arm's reach, he could see what had kept his target so occupied: a thin vine carefully worked itself into a loop, threading itself through gaps and winding around thinner sections. Delicate diamond-shaped leaves sprout forth along the edges, and he looked up into the face of the person who held it carefully between slender fingers._

_She smiled down at him as she slipped the plant around her wrist, and the two watched as it slowly pulled and shifted itself to the right shape and size. After it settled into place and ceased movement, she brought the looped vine to her mouth. Her breath slipped visibly from parted lips, glowing slightly in the darkness that enshrouded the small clearing in which they stood. The misty, silvery light wrapped sinuously around the plant, freezing the tiny stems and leaves into place. She drew back slightly, looking over it with a critical eye to ensure that the entire plant had been solidified._

_She then pulled it easily from her wrist and knelt beside him, picking up his tiny hand and placing it in his grip. "This is for you, my darling, because you mean so much to me. Keep it with you until you find someone that loves you just as much as I..."_

I wondered more than once why Inuyasha was so set on undoing the spell. As far as we could tell, nothing adverse had happened to Kagome because of my choices, and aside from her change in appearance, she remained the same human she'd always been, able to shoot her fiery pink arrows with deadly accuracy. The small mass of the Shikon-no-Tama around her neck was still the pale purified pink, and she seemed no more affected by the strange turn of events than I, aside from the weariness that accompanied the lengthy journey.


	16. The Dreadful Ennui

I sighed from my sheltered spot on Kagome's shoulder. I had kept myself content for the last few hours by reveling in the soft scent of her neck as her hair draped around my small frame, but I was so _bored._ Our trip was proving to be far shorter than expected, and Kagome and I had come to a sort of unspoken agreement to not talk while Inuyasha leapt quickly across the changing landscape. Better not to irritate him when he was so tense to begin with...

I had already spent countless hours plotting new tricks to play on anyone and everyone we might come across... I'd even briefly contemplated how to change up my foxfire attacks to be more useful in a tight situation, but I was _really_ itching to get my hands back on my crayons and paper. Kagome had brought back -and left at Kaede's! Curses!- a fresh supply of the brilliant colors, and all I could think of was the new drawings I'd be able to do. Blue skies, green grass, sunshine dappled trees... I glanced out from under her hair at the scenery around us, smiling as I took note of the strange foliage I had never seen before.

The more familiar forests full of deciduous trees had been replaced with plants better suited to the warm, balmy weather of the southern shores. The sturdy trees had humongous roots that branched out wide above ground, the leaves were so thin and feathery that they flowed and rippled like water in the warm ocean breeze. Thick vines draped through the tree limbs and hung down to the ground, a few bright pink blossoms scattered among the twisting green flora.

"Shippo-chan, have you ever seen the ocean?" Kagome asked as Inuyasha came upon a wide clearing at the edge of a cliff. I shook my head as we approached the ledge, but I was caught so off-guard by his sudden stop that I nearly fell from my perch on her shoulder.

He let us down from his back and stretched his arms high above his head, yawning widely as he cracked some of his joints to relax. "We'll stop here for the evening. Tomorrow we need to find a way to get to that island." He pointed a clawed finger toward the darkening skies in the east, and I could barely see the outline of a small mass of land _well_ beyond Inuyasha's range of leaping.

I wrapped my small arms around Kagome's neck as I perched on her shoulder, staring out over the wide expanse of water we could see in the distance. The ocean was still several miles away, but the smell of it carried easily with the breeze. "Mother told me stories about the ocean, but I've never seen it before..." I whispered, rubbing my cheek absently against hers as we stared out into the distance.

"Maybe we can stop and take a swim tomorrow," she suggested with a small grin as she looked over at me. I nodded in agreement, quickly losing myself in the numerous scents that surrounded us. The trees and plant life here was so different, carrying the strange aroma of the salty ocean air, heavily layered with the impression of permanent humidity. "We must have traveled some several hundred miles southeast since we left," Kagome murmured, her brow furrowed in what seemed to be concern as she watched Inuyasha rummage through her backpack. "We'll need to take our time coming back before he wears himself down to nothing."

She moved toward a nearby tree, hauling us up easily into a low-hanging, twisted branch. She settled back comfortably against a curve of wood, pulling me into her lap as she wrapped her tail around us both. A strong gust of wind from the cliff edge kicked up her hair as we stared out over the darkening distance. Inuyasha was higher up in a nearby tree, snacking on a large piece of chocolate he'd found in Kagome's backpack.

"Mother lived in the Southern Lands when she was younger," I said, my vision filled with Kagome's red locks as they came to a rest over her shoulder and chest. I nuzzled into the soft strands, smiling contentedly as Kagome ran her fingers through my bangs. "There are very few kitsune who live this far south..."

"How much do you know about kitsune youkai, Shippo?" she asked, now absently running the tips of her claws through the fur of her tail. I glanced up at her question, catching sight of a faraway look in her eyes as she continued to stare toward the ocean.

"We're hard to catch, harder to find, and there aren't many of us nowadays..." I started, trailing off as I tried to think back to the last time I'd seen an adult kitsune youkai. "We like to play, and most of us are very fond of beautiful things. Mother told me once of a distant cousin... He was so fond of things of beauty and rarity that he became an infamous thief." My mouth twitched at the edges as I felt a grin trying to break free. "Foxes make the best thieves."

She frowned down at me with slight disapproval. "You aren't going to start stealing when I'm not around, are you, Shippo-chan?" she asked, brushing a thumb over my cheek.

"Course not," I huffed, tilting my head up in mock arrogance. "I'm so cute, everyone feels obligated to give me what I want. I wouldn't _have_ to _steal_ anything." She rolled her eyes in amusement, pulling me close for a hug.


	17. The Chocolate Trickery

"Kagome! Is that all the chocolate you've got in this thing?" I heard Inuyasha ask, and I glanced up to see him holding her yellow backpack aloft. Inspiration struck, and I leapt from my position in Kagome's lap to hop higher in the branches above us. I lined myself up for the jump to Inuyasha's tree, landing easily to his left as my small claws sunk into the soft wood.

"Let me check," I suggested, reaching his side. "I know where she keeps them stashed," I whispered conspiratorially. I caught his grin of amusement as I dove into the contents of the bag, wriggling through the various objects until I came to a small sewn-in pouch near the bottom. I'd added the hidden pocket to make sure my favorite things were well concealed from Inuyasha's prying fingers. I easily found two pieces of chocolate within it, holding them carefully as I fished around in my vest pocket for the piece of fake chocolate I'd created _just_ for a moment like this. I smirked to myself in the dark, feeling the three wrappers crinkling innocently under my fingers.

I emerged from the now-cluttered confines (I never could manage to keep Kagome's personal belongings very neat after squirming around in her supplies in search of treats) and handed him the three pieces with a grin. He paused in the middle of tearing one open, shooting me a curious glance. "Aren't you going to eat one, too?" he asked, an eyebrow rising in slight confusion. He pulled the wrapper from one of the real pieces of chocolate, slipping it into his mouth before licking the slightly melted remains from his fingertips.

I thought about it for a second before snatching up the other real piece of chocolate. I'd briefly considered staying right there to watch him eat the other piece of 'candy,' but I figured it would look a _bit_ too suspicious. I gave him a huge grin before I hopped back over to Kagome's lap. In seconds, I'd torn the wrapper off of my prize, breaking it in half to offer some to Kagome. She shook her head and mumbled something about not being hungry as she toyed with a hanging vine at her side. I wondered at this a little, since we hadn't eaten anything since mid-morning.

It was easy to guess that she might be nervous about the next day, because none of us knew if the person we were to go see would be able to help undo what I'd done. But my line of thought changed quickly as the chocolate called out to me -asking ever so quietly to see the inside of my mouth- so I complied and placed the first half on my tongue. Chocolate... It was surely something I couldn't get enough of, with its smooth texture and the maddeningly addictive flavor...

"Hey Shippo, was this piece in your pocket or something? It's more melted than the other pieces I found." I held my breath for a moment, considering exactly how I could answer his question without him getting suspicious... But before I had a chance to think of something decent to say, I distinctly heard him mutter, _"_ Damn, no more chocolate..." Of course, at that moment my mind stopped working completely, for there was a necessary exclamation missing. Did he even eat it? If so, where was the groan of disgust? Where was the uncontrolled spitting and gagging? _I_ wouldn't eat a piece of wood and be upset upon discovery that there was no more left...

Maybe the hanyou had eaten so much Ramen that it killed his taste buds, and he couldn't tell the difference between the two. That had to be the only explanation... So why did I get this sudden twisting fear in my gut that I was wrong? I could hop up to his branch and smell him to see if it was indeed wood-scented... but then, if _I_ could tell it smelled like wood, then surely, Inuyasha with his amazing sense of smell would certainly be able to tell the same, too.

My thoughts ran around in circles, trying to figure out whether he'd ignored the taste and scent to consume a chocolate-like object, or if he'd had bad chocolate before and just didn't notice... But the possibility that the fake candy had actually tasted and smelled like the chocolate it resembled was just too impossible to think about. For Kagome's sake, it was not something I wanted to consider.

I looked up into her now-sleeping face, barely illuminated in the night, wondering if I'd been horribly wrong.


	18. Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Several hours passed uneventfully before Inuyasha nudged the two of us awake, and together, we stood at the cliff's edge, staring off into the distance at the sunrise. "We can either take a boat or fly, if you feel like you can handle it, Shippo," Inuyasha said, quietly. I could fly the distance between the two land masses, but I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to carry Kagome _and_ Inuyasha. With short distances and heights, I can carry more than person, but for several miles...

"I'm not sure I can carry both of you that far," I said, slightly ashamed of myself. Years of practice, and I hadn't been able to increase my strength enough to be much help. Sure, I had self-control to hold my illusions for much longer, but to produce enough youki to keep the three of us aloft for more than just a ascending a steep cliff was well beyond my current abilities.

Kagome bit her lip lightly in consideration as she ran her fingers comfortingly through my bangs. "It's ok, Shippo-chan... We'll just go down there and see if we can find a fishing village or something of the sort. I imagine they'd have to have a boat we can borrow for today."

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when there _was_ a village right on the shoreline, nor should I have been surprised when they did indeed have a boat to lend us for a short while. Regardless of how far south we'd traveled, everyone seemed to have heard of our group and our long quest to rid the world of the evils of Naraku. But what _didn't_ surprise me was perhaps the most unexpected event of our nearly weeklong trip.

The villagers gave us but one warning: the island was treacherous and forbidden territory- and that no man, woman, or child was allowed to set foot upon its sacred soil.

Luckily for us, we hadn't _mentioned_ we were going to the island. The village head was kind enough to warn us to stay away from the distant shoreline, for those who trespassed would meet an early demise. Of course, I'm not sure what _other_ purpose those villagers thought we might have for one of their boats. Maybe we looked like the kind of traveler to enjoy fishing trips on the ocean... But as fond as I am of fish, I'm not about to risk my fluffy tail in a tiny boat to hunt down my favorites.

The sun shone warmly upon us during the long trek to the small island, calming the slight agitation caused by Inuyasha's unfamiliarity in guiding a boat through water. The sides tipped dangerously several times when we weren't paying close attention to balance, and I found myself wondering more than once how the _hell_ fishermen managed to take one of these terrible things out on the ocean to capture any kind of fish.

I snatched up a handful of floating seaweed to poke and prod at, curious at the slightly filmy coating around a cluster of strange bubbles. I scratched one of the small green orbs with my claw, but immediately regretted the action as it burst under the slight pressure, coating my hands in a foul scent. But as terrible and annoying as that was, I couldn't stay upset about it for long as I caught sight of how amused both Kagome and Inuyasha seemed. While I don't _like_ making a mockery of myself for their entertainment, anything was better than the somber façade they'd both worn as we left our 'camp' this morning.


	19. Outgrown

The water sloshed against the side of the boat, creating a pleasant sound that quickly lulled me into a light doze as the afternoon sun warmed my skin. Kagome's lap seemed even more comfortable as I curled closer, trying to pull my short legs completely onto the width of her crossed legs. Mild annoyance washed over me as I failed to get the ends of my feet into my most preferred position, and I cracked open my eyes to glare that the uncooperative limbs.

I frowned slightly in confusion as I realized something strange: I was curled up like I usual... but my legs were sticking out from Kagome's lap as though they were too long. This idea didn't make sense, as I couldn't have grown more than an inch since Mother died a few decades ago... It has never really bothered me, how very small I am, as it's perfectly fine for a kitsune like myself to make the most of his continuing years of childhood... but after living at a certain size for so long, something like this would be hard to ignore.

So as not to alert my traveling companions, I feigned a stretch while still lying across Kagome's lap, looking for any differences in the size of my clothes. Sure enough, the length of my sleeves was definitely shorter than I'd recalled, and the warm sun hitting my upper ankles was obvious proof that my pants were in the same situation. It was mind boggling to think I'd finally grown some, after so long...

But why?

How?

My thoughts hopped from idea to idea, but none of them made any real kind of sense, not after even the little I'd learned from my Mother and Father. I wouldn't have some random growth spurt... I wasn't old enough - nor did I have enough experience - to draw energy from the flora in my surroundings... And I'd certainly not waved that magic wand and demanded a taller physique...

Kagome stifled a dainty yawn behind her clawed hand, stretching her free arm above her head. We'd slept decently in that curved branch overnight, getting a full night of rest in, so her slight lethargy seemed a bit out of place. Perhaps the heat was bothering her... "Are you okay, Kagome?" I asked, standing in her lap to look her in the eyes. I brushed my small hand across her forehead and cheek in concern, hoping she hadn't gotten ill on the last portion of our hasty journey.

She nodded almost sleepily and tried to repress another yawn as she tilted her head to relieve some sort of tension. Inuyasha leaned over from his position at the front of the boat to run his fingers through her bangs. "Kagome, if you aren't feeling well, you'd tell us, right?" he asked, but both of us knew the answer to that question before she'd had a chance to respond. Kagome would never bother us when she was feeling ill or had the sniffles. She'd only ask for rests or breaks if she thought it would benefit the whole group and not just herself... and it always drove us insane when she'd refuse to tell us if she needed something that she deemed trivial or insignificant in the big picture.

She was always concerned about being a burden upon us all, dragging us down or holding us back... she never realized that she was what kept us uplifted, kept us moving, held us together. But damn these thoughts of mine, I had completely missed what Inuyasha had just said to me. "Huh?" I asked unintelligently.

"I asked you to keep a close eye on her. I want to know if she's just taking a normal nap, or if there's something different about her." He continued rowing the tiny boat across the expanse of water as I set my head upon her chest, listening to her heart and intakes of air. Everything seemed completely normal; her scent was just right, her temperature didn't seem off, and she seemed content in her dozing state. It was slightly frustrating that the gentle whooshing noise of the blood rushing through her veins had such a drowsy effect on me. The longer I remained nestled with my head against her chest, the sleepier I became, and soon I'd fallen asleep as well.

Inuyasha managed to push the boat onto the sandy shoreline, and the rough jarring motion of the vessel stopping on solid ground jerked me from sleep. I blinked in confusion, unsure of what had just happened, until Inuyasha came into view at the edge of the craft. He leaned over and squeezed Kagome's shoulder, trying to rouse her from sleep without getting slapped (or sat) in retaliation. She had a knack for critical hits when someone loomed over her while she slept. On several occasions, she'd accidentally disabled Miroku with a well-placed (unintentional) backhand, and Inuyasha had been on the receiving end of several mumbled 'sits,' even if he _hadn't_ been the one to try to wake her.

I still take pride in being the only member of our small group that can wake Kagome without invoking her sleepy ire. However, I'm usually unable to fill that need of the group if I'm still asleep as well.


	20. Something Different

Kagome mumbled something sounding suspiciously like, "Go away," before tossing her arm over her eyes to block out the sunshine. She wrapped her free arm around my small body and hugged me close, and I was sorely tempted to just sink back into the oblivion of sleep. But before I could lose myself in the perfect warmth of her embrace, the twitter of a strange-sounding bird reminded me where we were. The nagging curiosities of being on the secluded 'forbidden' island made me wriggle free from her grasp, and I scrambled to the wooden rim of our small boat to take a good look around.

I'd thought the plant life on the mainland had seemed strange, but in comparison to this strange island habitat, I was at a loss for words. I leapt back to Kagome's sleeping form and tugged insistently on her thin shirt in an attempt to pull her back to wakefulness. "Kagome, Kagome! You've got to _see_ this place!" I said enthusiastically. I knew that with the strange things I would see on this island, I'd have some fantastic stories to tell and pictures to draw.

A flock of five green birds sat on a humongous crimson tree branch, their fluffy plumes of feathers shimmering almost like gold in the bright afternoon sunshine. That same, strange twittering I'd heard just before spilled from their throats in succession, as though they were singing to one another. The sweet scent of some foreign fruit hung thickly in the air, and it took little time to realize that the smell came from the large amounts of purplish-pink fruits hanging on a nearby tree. In the short time I looked, a few of the ripe fruits fell from their branches to land on the ground below, only to be immediately snatched up by small sandy-spotted animals that I'd failed to notice until now. They hopped in and out of the thin brush, easily blending into their surroundings with unique color patterns that resembled the sandy shadows under the bushes.

I turned to look back at Kagome as she sat up, glancing around at the scenery with a slightly bleary gaze. Her face scrunched up slightly as she clenched her fingers in the fabric of her shorts, and I briefly entertained the notion that she was upset at having me out of reach. She sighed quietly as she stood, and I let my gaze drift back toward the hopping animals nearby. "Monkeys?" I heard her say as she stepped over the edge of the boat. She stood at my side for a moment, drinking in the sights and sounds of the strange island.

Inuyasha stepped into our view, looking mildly annoyed at our lack of motion. "We can sightsee later. Let's go find this lady now before I die of old age." He seemed a bit grumpy, and I realized for the first time since waking that he was soaked. His silver locks were damp and clinging to the edges of his face and his clothing was drenched in seawater from pushing the boat up onto the shore. I wisely refrained from laughing or making _any_ faces at his discomfort. An irate hanyou in wet clothes on strange land made for a dangerous combination... even _with_ Kagome on hand to subdue him if needed.

Kagome's tail twitched in mild agitation at something as her mouth tilted into a frown. "Kagome?" I asked, curious as to what was bothering her. She pursed her lips in thought as she ran her hand absently over her left hip and stomach.

"I just feel a little weird. Might be some motion sickness from sleeping during that boat trip," she shrugged, tucking her hair carefully behind a pointed ear. I cocked my head slightly as I considered her for a moment; she looked like she was suffering from something other than motion sickness. I leapt up into her arms and moved quickly to her shoulder, taking a careful whiff of her neck to see if I missed anything strange in her scent. From this distance, there was no mistaking it: everything was perfectly normal. I threaded my fingers through her hair as she and Inuyasha began a careful walk through the tree line.


	21. Definitely Deserted

It was an uneventful walk for the most part; Inuyasha led, pushing branches and low-hanging vines out of our path as he and Kagome picked the way through the jungle-like flora. I occasionally caught Inuyasha's expression as he turned his head this way and that, searching for some illusive scent or another. After an hour of winding our way through the unfamiliar land, I noticed his look of general calm had shifted to a scowl. "Kaede _said_ that this old lady likes her privacy and would be hard to find, but this is _bullshit_ ," he growled out, exposing his frustration. "There isn't anything around here but plants and animals. No youkai, no ningen, no nothing."

"Look, maybe if we get to higher ground, we might be able to see some kind of sign of where she lives?" Kagome suggested, reaching over to pull a thorny plant that had gotten caught in my hair.

Inuyasha's scowl faded as he blinked in momentary shock. "Oh. Yeah..." he agreed, a hand slipping behind his head in slight embarrassment. "Be right back," he said, crouching low to the ground. He leapt quickly out of sight, springing high above the thick canopy of leaves above us. A handful of foliage sprinkled around the two of us in his wake, and Kagome sighed as she sat on the cool ground.

Without thinking much of my actions, I pulled a handful of her red locks into her lap as I snuggled closer to her stomach, running my fingers through the soft strands. I twisted and braided the ends, wrapping the lengthy curls around my hand as we waited for his return. "Shippo..." she started, the slight hint of a question in her tone. I looked up at her, curious as to what might be on her mind, until I noticed her toying with the end of my sleeve, which seemed to be even shorter than before. "Shippo-" she said again, this time her brow showed a slight furrow as she took a better look at my outfit. "...Are you..." she seemed hesitant to finish her question, and it didn't take much to realize that she was curious about my changing height.

"I've gotten taller," I said, watching her face for her reaction. We all knew that I hadn't grown _at all_ since I'd joined the group those years ago, and we all knew that it was because I no longer had parents...

"Since when? How?" she asked, confusion written all over her expression. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked, pressing her cool hand to my forehead.

"I feel perfectly fine," I replied, biting my lip in concern. ' _What could have her so worried...?'_ I wondered to myself, still absently running my hands across the length of hair in my lap. "I noticed it when we got out of the boat," I said, trying to think if I'd noticed anything strange before we'd come to this strange place. "Maybe it's this island," I whispered. "If it is, and I stay here a bit longer, I can grow some more..." I dropped my gaze to the strands of hair in my grasp, thinking about the possibilities of being able to _grow_. I'd been small for so long, that having any improvement in my size and stature would surely help the group...

"Maybe," she murmured. "I hope we find this lady. She might know something about what's going on." Kagome tilted her head back to look up at the spot Inuyasha had disappeared, and I followed the line of her gaze as her hair slipped from my fingers.

The curve of her neck gleamed brightly in the afternoon sunlight that filtered through the leaves overhead, and I couldn't help but brush the soft skin of my small face against it, rubbing my head into the crook of her neck as she shifted to look down at me. It was a gesture made out of contentment, and the gentle thrum of her pulse lulled me into a dreamy state as I nuzzled her neck. It felt like I belonged there, clinging to the girl from the future like she was my entire world.

Even now, as I cuddled happily against her soft form, I felt like she was all I had to live for. It wasn't hard to dwell on such ideas, considering the emptiness of my life when she was away. If Kagome were to leave, I would lose so much that I'd come to depend on, and it was _her_ presence that kept me going on the darker days of my life. Sometimes I could feel the fringes of hopelessness creeping up on me during her absences... I'd come to depend on our miko for sustenance, in spirit and body. The hope of seeing her kept my days bright and cheerful; her protective nature kept me protected from Inuyasha's occasionally-immature behavior... The taijiya and houshi would always keep me safe, as long as Kagome were here... But I never felt like they would truly take me in as their own if Kagome were not one of our group.


	22. An Obvious Landmark

I was torn from my selfish thoughts of possible future abandonment when Inuyasha landed with a heavy thump in front of us. "Come on, I think I've seen something." He extended a hand to help Kagome to her feet, and with a twist and quick settling of forms, Inuyasha leapt upwards once again, Kagome holding easily to his back. We moved too quickly for me to have any time to really look at the trees and leaves that whipped past, so I continued to cuddle against Kagome's neck until we broke through the jungle canopy.

There was a moment of suspended time as the three of us stared off into the distance. Inuyasha had turned slightly to point our gazes toward a tall pillar, rising like a beacon in the distance. "That seems kind of obvious, Inuyasha... Do you think it could be a trap?" Kagome asked, a frown marring her pretty face.

"Could be," he said, leaping off of another wide branch. "We'll go slow and keep an eye out for trouble, but for now, that's the only thing we have to move toward." It took only a minute for Inuyasha to leap to the pillar and land at the very top. The three of us twisted and turned about, looking at the forest below to see if there was anything out of the ordinary within sight.

Moments later, Inuyasha must have thought it to be a wise idea to step backwards off of the pillar to climb down, hand over hand. We approached the treetop slowly, still on the alert for anything dangerous. As we broke through the leaves, Kagome squealed so loudly that she caught Inuyasha off guard, causing him to nearly lose his grip. "What the fuck, Kagome?" Inuyasha growled out, twisting to look back at her gleeful expression.

"It's a spring, Inuyasha! Look, down there!" she said, pointing below us. Sure enough, the pillar we clung to was positioned directly in the center of a decent sized spring.

"Look, bitch, we don't have _time_ for you and your stupid baths," he grumbled, casting his gaze around for possible traps. One glance at Kagome's reddening face told me all I needed to know, and I took the initiative to reach up and flick one of his ears. He immediately flattened both white triangles to his head in irritation and glared back at the two of us. Kagome's angry stare made his eyes widen slightly, and he compromised quickly to avoid another intimate visit with the ground. "...Not right now, but we'll definitely stop for a _long_ bath on our way back..."

She pouted for a moment but soon acquiesced, trying to ignore the pull of a cool dip in the sparkling clear water mere feet below us. I knew she hated to remain dirty or smelly for any period of time, but she was so careful about her cleanliness that she would sometimes demand a bath even when I thought she smelled perfectly fine. Now, sometimes that would confuse me, because I'm _always_ attached to her, (as often as possible for a kit of my cuteness), and she never smells _bad_ unless she's been coated with foul demon guts from being too close to battle!

...But it seems I've gone off into a part of the story that's not really important right now. Kagome and I held on tightly as Inuyasha leapt from the pillar to the shoreline nearby. While the pillar's position in the middle of the spring seemed almost painfully obvious, the area seemed to be safe and free of any traps. There was a barely visible path on the north end of the spring, and Inuyasha stepped carefully in its direction. All three of us expected something to jump out at us, to spring upon us and cause harm, or some strange alarm to ring shrilly through the words, alerting someone of our presence.

An unfamiliar bird chirped overhead and a slight gust of wind rustled nearby leaves, but all else remained quiet and calm... completely undisturbed. "The old bat must realize we're here by now..." Inuyasha grumbled, keeping a close eye on his surroundings. "Is she waiting for us to come to her, or what?"

Kagome made a noncommittal sound, and I could feel the slight shrug of her shoulders. "Maybe she's hiding," I suggested, biting my lip anxiously.

"Keh, that's right, 'cause she knew _I_ was coming," Inuyasha boasted, earning himself a sharp rap on the head from Kagome's knuckles. "Ow, what was that-" he complained, but Kagome cut him off.

"Are you _trying_ to piss her off before we even meet her!" She hissed, yanking hard on a lock of his hair.

"Geez, alright, don't pull so hard!" he growled, shaking his head once to free his hair.

Unwilling to rush headlong into any unforeseen traps, Inuyasha took his time picking his way along the nearly overgrown path. Large stones lined the dirt every few feet, a few upturned or unearthed and missing from their positions. The heat was terrible, and had it not been for the dense foliage overhead blocking most of the sunlight, I probably would not have been able to stop myself from whining constantly. It took maybe an hour to work our way along the path through the jungle, and as we broke into a small clearing, I said the first word that popped into my mind: "Awesome."


	23. Just a Bunch of Old Rocks

An ancient stone temple loomed before us, covered in peculiar vines that seemed to have remained untouched for decades. There seemed to be enough space between the plants to squeeze into the main entrance, and after we stood around for a few minutes looking at our strange surroundings, Inuyasha made his way forward toward the dark passage. He paused before entering to allow us to slip from his back, but I remained carefully perched on her shoulder, clinging tightly to her neck and hair as my fur bristled in unease.

Kagome wasted no time in clasping his hand tightly, lifting her other hand to settle protectively upon my small back. The measure was enormously appreciated, and I relaxed my grip on her soft locks as I managed to calm slightly. Together, we stepped into the dark interior of the old temple, unsure of what we would encounter.

"Stop acting so tense," he grumbled. "It's just a pile of old rocks, overgrown with too many weeds," he said, swiping at a nearby vine. The mangled plant fell harmlessly to the floor in several pieces.

"Che, Inuyasha, don't do that..." I scolded. He shot me a look of annoyance, and I could almost understand his irritation. _I_ wouldn't like it if someone who was hardly as tall as _my_ knees tried to correct me... "Look, if the lady lives in this place -and it's _this_ covered in vines- then maybe she likes them just as they are."

"Whatever, shrimp," he shrugged, walking slightly ahead of us into a gloomy passageway.

"Do you think this is the right way?" Kagome whispered, looking around apprehensively.

"Keh, how should I know? We'll just walk until we find something different. This place isn't _that_ big..." Inuyasha huffed, crossing his arms.

Inuyasha was eating his words several hours later. The sun had set, and there was only minimal lighting within the gloomy passageways, provided by Kagome's small flashlight. Inuyasha led the way, cautiously approaching corners with his hand laid carefully upon the hilt of his sword. After what seemed like forever, he stopped mid-step and took a careful sniff of the air.

Both Kagome and I held our breaths in anticipation of an explanation... He sniffed again, this time with his face turned slightly to the side, and I caught myself leaning forward to see if I could smell something, too. He shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk forward, not saying a single word.

"What the..." Kagome sputtered, moving forward to catch hold of his sleeve. "Inuyasha, what was that about?" she asked, jerking hard on his sleeve to draw his attention.

He absently waved her off, not even looking back at her. "Nothing..." he muttered, continuing forward.

"Inuyasha..." she frowned, her voice lowering to reflect her mounting annoyance.

"Listen bitch," he growled, turning around to look at her even as he continued to walk forward, "If it's something _important_ , I'll tell you! I _thought_ I smelled something, but it turned out to be my imagination or something!" He turned forward once again, stomping ahead with renewed speed.

"You're such a-" she started, only to be cut off in surprise as Inuyasha ran smack into a wall. We stopped in our tracks, looking in confusion between the hanyou sprawled out on the stone floor and the completely wall-free hallway in front of us. I was positive that we _hadn't_ just seen him trip or slip on something, and that his progress _had_ to have been halted by something solid, but there was _nothing_ in front of us...

I leapt from Kagome's shoulder and cautiously approached the place where Inuyasha had collided with the invisible barrier. He was sitting up by now, rubbing his forehead. I managed to completely ignore his irritated growl as I reached out toward the slightly shimmering air in front of us. "There's an invisible wall here!" I exclaimed, thrilled with the idea that I could _see_ the illusion. Struck by sudden inspiration, I glanced to the left and right, immediately detecting the (barely noticeable) unnatural shift of light. "This way!" I said, eagerly pointing in that direction as I looked back at Kagome.

Kagome nodded, pointing her flashlight in the direction I indicated and following me easily as I ran quickly down the hall. Somewhere behind us, Inuyasha scrambled to his feet and leapt to catch up as Kagome's flashlight bounced wildly along the partially visible path. It was obvious after the first few turns in the hallway that I would need to slow down, because Inuyasha kept running into the illusory walls, cursing loudly with each collision. Poor Inuyasha...


	24. Sacrifice

He caught up shortly before we burst into a main room of sorts. There was nothing but a large table in the center of the room, and faint illumination cast strangely shaped shadows around the room. A very short old woman stood behind the table, watching the three of us calmly as we walked toward her.

As we approached her, it became apparent that she was very displeased with our presence. Her aged face was set into a sharp frown as she considered Kagome, and a sick feeling settled deep in my stomach. I somehow knew we were about to hear the worst news we could have possibly expected to hear. "I told you she wouldn't be pleased," the old woman grumbled with an irritated look in my direction.

"Runt, you know this old bat?" He asked, his eyebrow twitching in irritation.

"Yeah, it was her wand..." I muttered, looking up at her with a rapidly growing sense of dread. ' _Is she going to turn us away? We just got here and it was such a long journey! There has to be **something**..._' I thought, anxiously gnawing on my small claws. Of course, I wasn't surprised when Inuyasha growled in annoyed warning that I should explain further, but the old woman help up her hand to cease the argument before it had a chance to really start.

"There is nothing I can do to change her back," she stated, getting straight to the point. She lowered her hand and folded it carefully with the other in front of her. The hope that had kept us moving forward so hurriedly withered into nothing at her words.

Kagome spoke first, but it wasn't a response of annoyance, nor a demand for a solution... "Thank you for your time," she murmured, bowing slightly at the waist before she held out her hand toward me. "Come on, Shippo, we can take some time to play at the beach before we go home," she suggested, giving me a warm smile. I don't know what I'd managed to do over the years to deserve such complete forgiveness for any and all stupid deeds I managed to do... But whatever it was, there was no undoing it.

She had brushed off her change in appearance and moved on with her life, not allowing her dismay or annoyance show in her relationship with us. It was as though nothing had happened, and I felt so guilty that I could cry. "But..." I argued, tugging her hand for her to stop. "But isn't there something?" I asked, turning that impossible-to-deny watery gaze upon the strange old lady behind us.

"You do not deserve forgiveness for changing such an important being, little one," she said, her eyes narrowing upon my slight form.

"I don't need forgiveness! I just want Kagome to be _happy_! She's never asked for anything before, and I shouldn't have done what I did..." I cried, unable to keep my voice from cracking as I withheld my tears of frustration and guilt. I let go of Kagome's hand and leapt toward the table in front of the old woman. Leaning forward so only she would hear my next words, I continued, "She deserves _everything,_ and I'd give _anything_ for her to be happy."

"Little kit, what do you think would make her happy?" she asked, watching me with an unreadable expression, her wizened eyes looking me over critically.

"She needs back her appearance; she needs to look like she did before. She can't go _home_ like this. No one would accept her like one of my kind if she did..." I whispered, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"Give me your mother's bracelet," she commanded, holding out a leathery hand.

I balked, completely shocked by the strange request. "My..." I began, almost questioning her demand. But then, I realized I'd promised _anything_ to get Kagome back to normal, so I reached into one of my pockets and fished out the delicate loop of metal. My hand shook slightly as I reached out to hand her my most important treasure, knowing that Kagome deserved any sacrifice I could make on her behalf.

The old woman pocketed the object before turning to walk away from us. "Wait!" I called out, hopping down from the table to follow after her. "Aren't you going-"

She cut me off as she continued to walk away. "I'll come to you in the morning, little kit. Go enjoy the evening with your family," she said, her form slowly vanishing into the darkness at the other side of the room. I turned back to where I had left Kagome and Inuyasha, the slightest glimmer of hope coming back to me.


	25. Spring-time! ...In the Autumn

We left the dark temple with far less difficulties and made our way back to the large spring that Kagome had pointed out to us so gleefully before. They asked me no questions about the words exchanged within the chamber, both probably assuming I'd been lucky to escape without being changed into a newt. Inuyasha had almost demanded the old woman fix Kagome's altered appearance when the woman had turned to leave, but Kagome had held him back with a glare of promised retribution if he brought upon himself (or us) any further difficulties.

It was true that the woman most likely held immeasurable illusionary skills, and it was only _after_ my short plea-bargaining that I realized she could have probably made my life a hundred times more terrible than my worst nightmare if I'd annoyed her... Without being told, Inuyasha leapt into the nearby trees to take up watch as Kagome took some time to strip off her clothes. The comfortable shorts Kagome wore had to be torn to accommodate her very long fluffy tail, yet another thing that I was able to feel terribly guilty about: either she roam around the countryside with her tail squished up all uncomfortably, or one of us destroying her favorite clothes.

I'm such a terrible kit... I did _not_ think of all the stupid crap she'd have to live with because of my selfish meddling. I thought it would be better for her in the long run... I thought that maybe her new appearance would be good for her self-confidence, helping her feel more unique and beautiful than she ever had before. But as I watched her lean over the fresh-water spring and stare into her reflection, I knew that I had only succeeded in making her unsure of herself and unfamiliar with her own face.

I walked up behind her and set my hand on her shoulder, trying to keep from crying as I felt so damned miserable. I wanted her to _like_ the way I'd made her, I wanted her to be like me, I wanted her to be happy and us to be together like the family I wish we were, complete with a stupid father and everything. I should have known that Kagome wouldn't be able to fit the role of motherhood in her _other_ life... and I wasn't entirely sure if she'd be able to go back to how she'd lived before this pointless mess.

"We aren't getting any younger," she chuckled, tipping forward into the cool water. I blinked out of the moment of guilt I'd sunk into, watching her float on her back in the moonlit pool.

' _Right_.' I nodded once in agreement, hopping in with a splash. She took extra time washing my hair that evening, and it was too easy to forget my worries and regret as she lavished her love and attention on me. After we'd dried off and dressed, Inuyasha dropped to the ground at our side, crossing his arms over his chest in silent annoyance. He said nothing, but Kagome and I knew that he was trying to keep a tight reign on his temper for having traveled all this way without any positive (or _acceptable)_ result.

Silence reigned that evening as we rested in preparation for our return trip. I said nothing of the old woman's possible return in the morning, because I didn't want to get either Kagome's or Inuyasha's hopes raised again, only to have them dashed when nothing good came of whatever might have been promised. It was tough for us to fall asleep in the sticky warmth of the jungle, for there was no breeze to dry the sweat that clung to our foreheads and necks. By the time we roused from our not-so-restful sleep that morning, my tail was stiff and crinkly, and my bangs were dried in itchy formations around my face.

Kagome and Inuyasha looked just as miserable as well, and Inuyasha was the first to take a splashing leap into the cool water of the spring, fully clothed. He hopped out a few moments later, shaking his hair and clothes free of excess water before leaping out of sight to keep watch while we did the same. Kagome and I were quick about rinsing the sweat from our bodies, and we were in the middle of wringing out our clothes when the old woman appeared, hovering a foot away from us over the water.

"Kyaaah!" Kagome screamed in shock, and I was caught so off guard that I fell backwards into the spring and sucked in a lungful of water. I emerged, hacking and sputtering as I tried to expel the water from my chest. Kagome patted me on the back as she held her wet-wrinkly dress in front of herself for modesty's sake. Inuyasha, of course, came barreling into the scene with his sword drawn, catching an eyeful of Naked Kagome before she shouted out "Sit!" in mortification.

He crashed to the ground, giving her enough time to help me recover from choking before slipping on her dress. The old woman, of course, looked on in with a stony expression, reminding me of a boiled cabbage that had decided to float midair... "I have brought something for the girl," she announced, withdrawing something shiny from her pocket.

"You shall wear this to regain your true identity, but you need one other object before you can wear this," she said, placing my treasured bracelet into Kagome's outstretched hand.

"What more must I do?" she asked, looking up at the aged woman floating before us.

"There is a blue vine that grows deep within this forest. It is extremely rare and very dangerous to any creature that approaches it. You must collect from this vine a single blue seed and place it within this pouch," she said, holding out the worn leather container. "You mustn't touch the vine, for the oil it extracts can paralyze any human. Inhaling the pollen from one of its blooming flowers can cause seizures, and being pierced by one of its sharp leaves will bring you a quick death. It will seek out and absorb any youki nearby, so make sure that your companions stay a healthy distance away, lest they be sucked completely dry of their life energy."

Her instructions brought mixed looks of disbelief and shock and fear to my face (and I'm sure to Kagome's and Inuyasha's faces as well, had I taken a moment to look in their directions) and I was immediately regretting my request that the old woman help our dear Kagome. This mission sounded deadly to any of us, should we attempt it!

"How am I to take a seed from this vine if it is so deadly?" Kagome asked, seemingly bewildered.

"You'll figure out a way to do so, Miko," she replied, vanishing from sight once again.

"What the _fuck!_ How the hell is this supposed to work? Kagome gets some stupid seed that'll turn her back to her normal self and one of us dies in the process?" Inuyasha bellowed as he stomped toward us. He grabbed Kagome by the upper arms and shook her with a growl. "Woman, I don't care what the fuck you look like, we're going home _now_." Muttered curses and growls about how stupid this idea had been could be heard as he turned around and knelt, fully expecting Kagome to comply and climb upon his back. She looked down at me with a thoughtful expression on her face as she fingered the bracelet.

"I think we can do this without getting hurt," she murmured, biting her lip as she considered me. I was terrified for her safety, but I was willing to storm into whatever growth of blue vines to get her the seed she needed for the spell to work. I nodded shakily, and I knew she could read the determination in my eyes.


	26. Blue Anshan

We traveled for the entire morning, not really knowing where we were to go, only following the hunch Kagome had as Inuyasha leapt through the jungle. She'd have him travel a mile in a western direction, then change slightly to travel north-east for a little while, then change again to travel toward the south. It seemed as though we were traveling in some kind of circle, which wasn't too difficult considering we were running around blindly on an island.

Eventually, we realized that we were slowly, but surely, triangulating on a small patch of forest that seemed overgrown with thorny bushes. Inuyasha had to use his Sankon-Tessou to slash through the stubborn foliage, making room for us to push through to a clearing completely surrounded with the spiny plants. It was obvious that the plants were keeping in -or keeping _out_ \- something...

In the center of this clearing, a small blue vine grew, completely innocent looking. It was wrapped into small coils, its wide, long leaves stretched lazily out along the grass to absorb the few rays of sunlight peeking between breaks in the foliage above. Kagome walked cautiously toward the vines, a hand propped on her hip.

"Kagome," Inuyasha called out, fingering the hilt of his sword. "You can grab one of its seeds after I tear it up with..."

"That won't work..." Kagome said, turning to regard us both. "The old woman said it would absorb youki, so neither of you can use any attacks on it, I think." She circled it slowly, obviously looking for something as she frowned down at the seemingly harmless, relatively small plant before her. She reached our sides again and shrugged. "I can see its seeds, but it doesn't look like I can just reach in there and grab one. It looks like it can move a little on its own, and I'm not sure what it can do when it's under threat..."

Inuyasha pulled her backpack from his shoulder, pulling the ties free that held Kagome's bow securely in place. "Use your arrows, and try shooting at it," he suggested, holding it out to her.

"Okay..." she agreed, taking the bow.

It seemed too easy, to me, for her to only need to use her arrows to free a seed from the plant. "Don't use your powers, though," I warned quietly, "It might disintegrate it..." I was feeling more and more positive as time ticked by that this plant was of a youkai variety, and that Kagome's miko energy would probably purify it before she could retrieve a seed.

She nodded as she pulled her arrow back and took aim. With the nearly silent twang-whoosh of the string's release, the arrow sliced through a section of the plant, sending small bits of the vine shooting off to our left. The vine immediately retaliated against its attacker, shooting leafy appendages in our direction. Inuyasha was quick to react, scooping the two of us up and out of harm's way. It continued to lash out at us, each time growing closer and closer to striking one of us. Inuyasha managed to slip back through the hole he'd made in the prickly thorn bushes surrounding the small clearing, saving us from the plant's continued attacks.

"Well, that didn't work too well," Inuyasha grumbled in annoyance.

"I don't know..." Kagome said, staring at the ground near the small entrance to the clearing. There, lying partially hidden amongst the small plants growing along the jungle floor, were a few small pieces of the blue vine's leaves... and a single, deep blue seed. "Right. Looks like this quest is over," she grinned, pulling out the small pouch to scoop up the small object. She was very careful not to touch it, for none of us were sure if the plant's dangerous properties would be present in the seed as well.

It was tied shut with a long loop of string and she draped it over her neck next to the not-quite-complete Shikon-no-Tama. We all held our breaths as Kagome pulled the thin bracelet from her pocket and looked it over. "Here goes..." she said, closing her eyes and slipping it over her wrist. Both Inuyasha and I couldn't contain our dual expressions of shock as her form shimmered and melted back into her normal, human self.

Everything had changed back to normal, and I leapt upon her shoulder to feel the tips of her ears to be sure they were really gone. "You're normal again..." I whispered, in a strange sort of awe that the old woman had really changed her back. A lingering sense of loss settled into my heart as I realized Kagome would never resemble one of my kind again, but I knew I had to accept that our Kagome was back to normal without any regret.

"Well," she said with a grin, "I never felt different to begin with, so I suppose this is just as good a result as any!"

Inuyasha ruffled my hair playfully as he smiled, truly happy and finally more relaxed than he had been in weeks, now that everything was right once more. Kagome adjusted her pack and climbed onto Inuyasha's back as he knelt before us, and then he was running at an almost leisurely bound through the jungles of the island. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach, enjoying a lengthy romp in the sand, building sandcastles according to Kagome's instructions, and swimming in the salty ocean.

That night, we made camp at the tree line, and I offered to try using my foxfire to light the campfire. Inuyasha leaned forward slightly in amusement as I piled up a good selection of kindling and twigs, and I rubbed my hands together in preparation for the careful concentration of energy this trick would require. My illusionary fire was really great for distracting, but it was _really_ hard to get it to burn with enough intensity to light a regular flame.

' _Fire...'_ I thought, bringing the glowing blue flames to life from my palms. ' _Heat up, burn, set ablaze!'_ I concentrated on forcing the energy into a small point of focus that would hopefully set one of the flammable pieces of dried grass on fire. Suddenly, I sneezed unexpectedly, and those cool blue flames became an angry red, engulfing the entire pile of sticks in blazing fire.

Inuyasha sat back with a stunned, _charred_ expression, his eyebrows singed off and his bangs curled and blackened.

Kagome laughed so hard from her rock nearby that she fell over.

...I scrambled behind her so fast that Inuyasha couldn't find me for a full five minutes.

A mirthful scolding and reminders that it was an accident and that his hair would most likely grow back to normal by morning saved my head from several horribly painful lumps. The next morning, we climbed back into the boat and Inuyasha rowed us back to the mainland, our quest at an end. All we had to do now was travel north once more toward Kaede's hut...


	27. Friendly Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo return to the North, and meet up with friends along the way.

"Were you unable to catch anything?"

...We were asked that question _many_ times between giving the boat back to the man in charge of the small fishing harbor and our departure from town. To save us some time as we exited, I began telling everyone who'd asked that I'd eaten everything we'd caught before we could return to shore. The villagers were amused by this and accepted it easily as an answer, for it seemed even obvious to _them_ that I was larger than I'd been when we'd left.

The trip back from the island had been uneventful, a pleasant breeze pushing us along the way, so Inuyasha (thankfully) managed to avoid becoming completely soaked in ocean water and sweat. A few people sent Kagome odd glances, as though they realized something was wrong. Most kitsune can alter their appearance with a simple illusion, like I have many times before... but I think it may have seemed out of place for Kagome (who now appeared to be known throughout the village as really a kitsune in disguise) to have changed her form back to the more familiar human appearance for the short walk through the village, unless there was some sort of danger looming that the villagers did not know about. As we finally left the village, I glanced back to see a few of the more skittish congregating and speaking with looks of obvious panic as they watched us leave.

"Kagome," I said, tugging lightly on her hair as I perched easily upon her left shoulder. She turned a little to look at me, a bright smile upon her lips. I tried to keep my face straight as I pointed my thumb behind us. "I think we scared them..."

Her brow furrowed in confusion she twisted to look back at the now-scurrying villagers. "What? How did we scare them?" She seemed distressed and ready to turn around as Inuyasha laughed aloud.

"Sometimes I wonder," he said, twining his fingers behind his neck, "how such stupid humans survived for so long." Kagome rolled her eyes at his remark, pushing her now-black bangs from her forehead.

"Better safe than sorry, I suppose," she said, pulling her yellow pack from her shoulder. She tossed it to Inuyasha, who turned just in time to catch it before it knocked him over.

"This 'stupid human' is tired of carrying that," she said with a smirk, and I took that as my cue to hop down from her shoulder. Together, Kagome and I ran ahead on the road, taking turns to chase one another.

"Oi, wench! I wasn't talking about _you_!" Inuyasha shouted as he ran to catch up.

It was shortly after noon that we reached the familiar cliff edge, and Kagome stretched and plopped down onto the bright grass in front of the twisted tree we'd slept in before. She pulled food items from her backpack and patted her lap as invitation for me to sit. With our short-lived quest at an end, she must have deemed it necessary that we take our time returning home. We snacked on crackers and dried fruit and drank water from Kagome's clear plastic bottles as we quietly enjoyed the rest of our time near the ocean, and even Inuyasha stopped nagging for our continued movement for a while.

Kagome was in an even better mood than usual, which became very obvious after she started 'flying' small slices of dried banana around my mouth with little whooshing noises. I tried to sit still with my mouth wide open, but it was difficult to do so while trying to control my laughter. On the fourth or fifth piece, something on the horizon caught Kagome's attention just as she was slipping the fruit in my mouth, and she ended up cutting the tip of her finger on one of my fangs. I gasped as I realized what happened, immediately reaching out to grasp the wounded digit as she moved to stand up. I barely noticed that Inuyasha had leapt down from his tree to stand beside us as I stuck Kagome's finger into my mouth to lick away the welling blood.

She seemed to have not even noticed the small slice upon her finger as she shaded her eyes with her free left hand, staring intently toward the north. Kagome was still relaxed and calm, and so I knew there was no looming threat as I carefully prodded her finger to check the seriousness of the cut. I was slightly surprised to see that it had already stopped bleeding, considering how much blood had welled at first, but then I realized that Kagome's ability to heal herself had probably increased since the last time I'd had a chance to really see her get injured.

It wasn't too often that I'd be in the midst of a battle serious enough to cause wounds, since I wasn't of much use during a fight... But the few times I'd been around had resulted in situations where I'd been injured as well... or had been kept far away from the recovering adults so as to not disturb whomever was working to heal them. It was frustrating during times like those, when I wanted to do nothing but comfort those who cared for me, but I understood their reluctance to have a 'rambunctious' child around in delicate situations.

The familiar shouts of greeting nearby finally drew my attention away from Kagome's nearly-healed cut, and I dropped Kagome's hand as we moved toward our descending friends. Sango and Miroku leapt from Kirara's back as they touched down. Kagome and Sango exchanged their customary hug, and true to his nature, Miroku tried to sneak in a good grope. Twin strikes from the annoyed females laid him flat out on his back with an amused expression on his face.

"You know," Kagome said as Sango moved to sit with us in the shade of the large tree, "...even after all of these years, I still think he likes getting _hit_ more than he likes to grope..."

Sango nodded sagely, "If I didn't know better, I would agree with you." She leaned toward Kagome, her lips tilting into an amused grin as she cupped her mouth with one hand. "Actually, last night..." she began to whisper. Kagome's eyes widened in horror as she clapped her hands over my ears, muffling out whatever Sango had said next. I frowned in annoyance as I tugged at her hands, not liking to be left out of the conversation. By the end of Sango's sentence, Kagome had turned beet red, her hands falling from my ears to rest upon her cheeks.

"I had no idea..." Kagome muttered, sneaking a glance over at Miroku, who still lay happily dazed on the ground nearby. I sighed and tugged on her shirt, trying to pull her attention back where it _obviously_ belonged at a time like this: Me. "Shippo..." she murmured, running her fingers through my bangs with an amused smile. "Some things are..." she paused, biting her lip as she tilted her head to the side. "Sometimes it's just a little too _much_ for you to hear, yet..." she whispered, leaning closer. She snuck a glance around at the clearing as though she were about to reveal a terribly juicy rumor...

I held my breath, the tingle of excitement of discovering something new and secret and most likely 'inappropriate for my age' wormed its way through my stomach as I clenched my tiny fists in anticipation. She smiled cutely and spoke, her voice the smallest whisper possible: "So, I'll tell you when you're older." Of course, this answer caused me to puff up with humongous annoyance and disappointment, but I immediately remembered something I'd meant to ask when we had a moment of peace. Regardless of the fact that Kagome and I had plenty of time to talk about whatever came to mind while we traveled to the south, my mind had been so full of Kagome-possibilities and magic-wand repercussions that I'd kind of forgotten pretty much everything else.

The first of many soon-to-be-asked questions fell out of my mouth: "Does Sesshoumaru wear socks?"


	28. Sort-of Sesshoumaru Strikes Again!

Kagome's mouth dropped open in her confusion, and I reached up after a moment to push her jaw shut as well as remind her she had yet to answer. "Uhm... I don't think socks go with that type of shoe..." she said, leaning back against the tree with a look of total bewilderment at the odd change of subject. "Why do you ask?"

I shrugged slightly, shooting a glance over at Sango, who had just begun polishing her gigantic bone boomerang. Inuyasha and Miroku (after he woke from his moment of unconsciousness) had stepped out of sight, probably to collect firewood and food for the evening. "I just wanted to know, so that in case I did this-" I had just pulled the leaf from my pocket when the transformation occurred, my form blurring into the taller stature of the Inu-youkai Lord of the West.

"Impressive..." Kagome breathed, now having to look slightly upwards as we remained sitting. I frowned in confusion at the leaf still clutched in my hand, wondering why I'd changed before it had made it to my head.

One of my deadly-Sesshoumaru-hands pulled up a piece of billowy material from my ankle, "...I was unsure if socks would be visible while I am seated," I said, the timber of my voice sounding deep and smooth, making the illusion seem even more complete.

"GAH!" Sango shouted in surprise, flipping over backwards from her seated position to land in a defensive crouch, boomerang at the ready. Kagome and I jumped to our feet as well, looking around for the intruder. A moment passed in complete silence as we both turned confused looks in her direction, wondering what had her on guard... Until we realized that she was watching _me_ with a look of disbelief.

Of course, one would be asking for an immediate death by evisceration to confuse the Great Lord _Sesshoumaru_ with Tiny Insignificant _Shippo_ , so she was probably unsure of how to ask who I really was _just_ in case I turned out to be the real youkai...

"It's just me..." I said, rolling my eyes and plopping back into the dirt. My voice still came out in Sesshoumaru's deep tone, but the obvious expression and careless motion made Sango blink twice and slowly slide back into her spot on the other side of our soon-to-be campfire.

"Shippo," Kagome said, looking around for any sign of where Inuyasha and Miroku had disappeared to as she sat back on the ground. "You might want to drop the illusion before they get back, so that you don't..." she tried to hide her smile behind a discreet brush to her face, "...worry Inuyasha again..." Of course, the idea of getting another scare out of Inuyasha appealed greatly to my mischievous side... Both girls visibly shuddered at the sight of _Sesshoumaru_ sporting the most evil grin in my arsenal.

Now, I've always thought Miroku to be a courageous and intelligent man, capable of standing tall and fighting to defend his comrades –even at the risk of his own life!– in almost any situation thrown our way... So, I knew that evilly looming over Kagome and Sango (with the two illusory swords I'd created the last time I'd scared Inuyasha) would probably end with _me_ getting seriously injured by a very protective houshi. I chose, instead, to carefully work on braiding Kagome's hair with a shining ribbon dangling out of my mouth. It was probably as unthreatening as I'd ever be able to appear, but I suppose the _real_ Lord Sesshoumaru would kill me on sight if only he knew what I had been doing with his image...

The soft sound of grass blades shifting and crunching alerted us to Miroku's return. Kagome did her best to hold still as I carefully wove the soft strands into a thick braid, but I couldn't help but cast a quick glance in his direction. Miroku hadn't even looked up at us yet, for he was in the middle of trying to shift an armful of kindling and sticks so that they wouldn't fall. I watched his gaze flick to the small clearing in which we sat, and I could see the thought in his eyes as he made a quick choice of how and where to set up our campfire.

A strong gust of wind from the cliff edge pulled the long strands of silver hair into a flowing dance, finally catching Miroku's attention. I could hear the moment his breath stilled in shock; his eyes narrowed as he carefully took in the scene before him: the tall, imposing form of the Lord of the West carefully weaving strands of Kagome's hair into a thick braid. From so many years spent in each other's company, I know that the members of our group are all attuned to each other's auras, and it was obvious that he was trying very hard to _not_ believe his eyes. "Hmm," was all he said as his mouth twitched in thinly veiled amusement. He set the firewood in the center of our small clearing, arranging it carefully as he would with any other task.

Kirara, whom had apparently snuck away during the brief reunion earlier, stepped into the clearing in her smaller form and cocked her head once as she saw me. She sniffed the air briefly before moving forward again to curl up next to Sango's leg. (I'm pretty sure she rolled her eyes at me...)

Miroku pulled a battered metal lighter (a gift from Kagome a long time ago) and started a small fire, pushing the twigs and sticks around so that the flame would even out as we sat together in silence. The sharp crack of snapping wood was heard nearby, giving us our only warning before Inuyasha landed in the small clearing with a dull thud. He didn't even look back in my direction as he brought a few fresh kills into sight and began skinning them. I bit my lip as I racked my mind for something to say to him, for the Sesshoumaru-voice trick was something that I hadn't been able to master before, and it was just brimming with possibilities...

"Ignorant whelp, that is not enough sustenance for a pregnant female," I said, trying to slip enough disdain into the smooth speech. Of course, that was far more than I've ever heard Sesshoumaru say in one sentence, but it would have to do. Inuyasha's ears flattened as he twirled in annoyance, his lips curled into a snarl as he gripped the hilt of his sword.

"Sesshoumaru-!" he growled as he crouched, glaring at me. His expression changed immediately as what I'd said finally clicked, and he jerked his gaze toward Sango in confusion. "What!?" he asked, forgetting I was still sitting here, partially-braided strands of Kagome's long black locks entwined in my fingers.

"Not _me!_ " Sango shrieked in mortification, pulling her boomerang to an upraised position. (For good reason, too, since Miroku seemed to edge closer with a wicked gleam in his eyes...)

"Wait, _what!?_ " Inuyasha demanded, whirling back toward Kagome in confused anger. He finally realized what was so utterly _wrong_ with the picture that met his eyes, and he plopped into the soft grass with a growl of annoyance. "Damn, it, Shippo! Quit that before someone accidentally kills you!" He grumbled a moment longer as he started once again on cleaning his catch for dinner. "You aren't pregnant, are you?" he asked Kagome after a short moment, leaning forward to take a few sniffs.

"Of course not, idiot!" Kagome replied indignantly.


	29. Story Time

"It sounds as though you've experienced this before, Inuyasha," Miroku stated, studiously poking at the fire. "Shippo's illusion of Sesshoumaru, I mean," he added, an amused gleam in his eyes.

"Keh," he mumbled, flicking a small piece of bloodied flesh from his claw.

I finished braiding Kagome's hair and tied the bright ribbon around the end to hold its place before I stood and stretched my _very_ long limbs. "This is actually quite nice," I said, turning my slender hands around to inspect my deadly claws. "Don't I look cool?" I grinned, flipping my hair around haughtily as I flexed. Kagome giggled as she was brushed with the long silvery strands. "But you should have _seen_ Inuyasha, earlier..." I said, a mischievous look crossing my face.

My form melted into a very short, childlike version of Inuyasha, and I leapt into the low-hanging branch of the nearby tree. "So here I was," I began, telling the story in a slightly high-pitched Inuyasha-voice, "...napping in my favorite branch of the Goshinboku, when suddenly, something woke me!" At this I pretended to sleep for a moment, then jerked 'awake' to sit up and look around like a frightened deer. I tried to contain my own amusement as everyone (minus Inuyasha, of course) tried various methods of hiding smiles and chuckles behind carefully placed hands and disguising coughs.

"When I looked down, I was shocked to see my evil-half-brother standing at the foot of the tree, staring up at me with his really-scary-evil-glare!" I exclaimed, twisting sideways so that I could fall from my branch. A little bit of youki helped slow my descent so that I could make a few twists and flails before landing in a carefully arranged heap in front of my onlookers. "But it was really just me, in disguise," I said, changing again into a very short, childlike version of Sesshoumaru. I tilted my head back for a victorious laugh, but it was made so much _more_ amusing by the childlike voice that my impression carried.

"Why you little-" Inuyasha growled, his eye twitching in annoyance as he reached for me.

"Ugh," Kagome said, hiccupping once. Inuyasha and I (both still concerned about her strange bout of lethargy during our recent travels) froze in our spots and watched her warily.

"Are you okay?" Sango asked, reaching out to place a hand on Kagome's forehead. Kagome reached down and placed a hand against her stomach, looking a little green.

"Kagome," I said, approaching her slowly, "You look like you're gonna be sick..." I stopped in front of her, changing back to my real form as I touched her arm. She gave me a faint smile and waved off everyone's concern.

"I just felt a little nauseous there for a moment, but I'm feeling better now. I guess I'm just hungry or something..." she said, opening her arms so that I could climb into the circle of her embrace. She nuzzled her face into my hair and breathed an audible sigh of relief, and I felt better knowing that just holding me brought her a measure of comfort.

"Are you sure? You might be getting ill... Sometimes climate changes can leave you open for sickness," Sango insisted.

"I'll be fine. Besides, we'll be back at Kaede's in a few days, and if I'm not well by then..." she trailed off. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

The group fell into silence as Inuyasha worked to set sliced-up pieces of meat over the fire to cook while Sango prepared some water for tea. "Shippo, your illusionary skills have improved greatly since your last display. Your practice has paid off," Miroku noted, folding his hands in his lap.

"And have you gotten bigger?" Sango asked, reaching over to finger the edge of my sleeve. It was becoming obvious how much I'd grown during our short trip to the island, for my clothes kept seeming shorter and shorter as the hours passed.

"I have been practicing lots," I admitted. "But I'm not sure about why or how much I've grown. I think it has something to do with the island that we visited," I suggested, looking back toward the small mass of land. If it _was_ true that my noticeable growth was due to the strange energies of that island, I was sure that I'd be able to come back to spend more time there. But until we were sure, it would really be best to get back to familiar ground. And plus, the shift in my own powers was unexpected, and I needed time to get used to how they would work.

"Shippo, I didn't realize you were able to make an illusion without a sound," Kagome said, running her fingers through my bangs as she cuddled me close.

"Me neither," I said, snuggling back into the circle of her arms. Anything could be wrong in the world, but as long as she held me, I think I could ignore it all and take a nap. I still felt a pang of sadness when I thought of how long my mother had been gone, and I knew that Kagome would never take her place in my life, but she was easily the (living) woman I loved most in this adventure-filled life of mine. I would do _anything_ to make Kagome as happy as she'd made me over these last few years.

"So, Kagome," Sango began, looking over her carefully, "We see you're back to normal now, but Kaede mentioned something about you having a magic spell cast upon you. What happened?"

"Shippo thought I needed a makeover to bag myself a man," she replied, and both girls giggled. Apparently, this 'makeover' was something they both had discussed before, because none of the males in our group recognized the word (judging from our shared looks of confusion). "But in the end, we all decided it would be the best idea to undo the spell before I got myself into trouble. It probably would be a bad thing to run around looking like a pretty fox youkai when I'm really a human in disguise," Kagome winked.

"So it was merely a change in appearance?" Sango asked, smirking. "I think it would be interesting to be disguised as a youkai. It might be much easier to infiltrate extermination sites if they didn't recognize my humanity."

"True," Kagome admitted, "But in my case, that flaming red hair and tail may have drawn too much unneeded attention, _especially_ in my own time. I think my mother would have a heart attack."

"So how was the spell broken?" Sango asked, passing warm cups of tea around the campfire.

"The old lady had me go into the middle of the jungle to find this rare blue vine, and I had to collect one of its seeds before I could put on this bracelet," Kagome replied, holding up her wrist for everyone to see. "Shippo, am I wrong, or did I see you give this bracelet to her the night before?"

"I did," I admitted, fingering the metal lightly. "It was my mother's." I looked up at her face, my eyes probably shimmering with a few tears I was trying to hold back. "But now it's yours, because I don't want you to be unhappy!" I threw my arms around her neck and held on tight, hiding my face from view. I was slightly upset that I had given my most precious treasure away, but it made me feel better that it had been used to make Kagome happy again, and I couldn't help but cry at the damned confusing emotions swirling around in my head.

"Oh, Shippo," she said, rubbing her hands along my back. "I'm sorry it made you sad," she whispered, hugging me tight.

"I'm not sad, Kagome." I pulled back from her to show her my smile. "I'm just a little confused about everything." I leaned forward then to whisper in her ear so that the others would not hear, "...and it helps to cry every once in a while."

"Let's eat before this food gets cold," Inuyasha grumbled, handing out portions of meat. (Inuyasha never has liked our little heart-to-heart conversations...)

After we'd eaten, cleaned up for the night, and settled down for sleep, Sango asked more questions about our adventure on the island. All three of us tried to relate the fantastic flora and fauna we'd seen there, but it was hard to describe some of the strange things we'd encountered. Kagome took over most of the storytelling that evening, because all Inuyasha would comment on was how long the trip had taken, and how annoying it all had been.

I half-listened to her words as I held one of her hands between my own, mentally comparing the memory of her clawed fingertips with her now blunted human nails. I traced my fingers along the pads of her hands as she spoke, watching the digits twitch as they were tickled. A memory came to mind, and I found myself frowning in confusion as I examined her fingers for the small wound she'd received earlier that day.

Every one of her fingers were completely unharmed, including the hand I hadn't been playing with. I was certain I hadn't imagined the taste of her blood as I'd licked the shallow cut clean, but even Kagome's slightly accelerated healing wouldn't have left her without _any_ trace of injury mere hours later...

"Then, when we had to hunt down this blue vine as part of my cure, so we walked around in the jungle for what seemed like hours before we ended up at this thorny clearing. The vine didn't seem to be as dangerous as the old lady made it out to be," she said, carefully pulling a brush through my hair, which reminded me that I still sat in the middle of everyone. "But we all figured it wouldn't be safe to just stick a hand in there and grab one of the seeds I'd needed, so I shot at it with an arrow from a safe distance..." I realized that I would have to save any confrontation with Kagome about her 'disappearing cut' until I had her in private.

I cleared my throat and sat up a little higher, drawing the group's attention to my dramatic expression, "And then it shot a whole bunch of sharp vines right at us! I was sure we were gonna be killed, but Inuyasha pulled us all out of the way _just_ in time!" I added, making sure everyone knew I had been paying 'full attention' to what had been said. If Kagome had retained something from the spell I'd cast, I'm pretty sure it would be best discussed out of range of interfering companions. Of course, I know that they would have Kagome's best intentions in mind, but I just can't see something like possibly accelerated healing being something worth going wild about.

"How were you able to retrieve the seed once it had retaliated?" Miroku asked, swirling the contents of his cup thoughtfully.

"My first shot was lucky, I guess," Kagome said. "We found one seed with the shredded pieces of vine near the entrance to the thicket."

"What happens if you take off the bracelet?" I don't remember who asked the question, because as soon as it fell from their lips, we all paused to stare down at the thin piece of silver that encircled her slender wrist.

"I'm not sure," she murmured, fingering the frozen vines. "You know, I'd rather not know for now..." she said, smiling up at us. "She'd said that I'd regain my identity by having these two objects, and I'll keep faith in her words. Besides, I'm still Kagome no matter what I look like, right?"

"It is regrettable that I was unable to see what your youkai appearance had been," Miroku said, his eyes closed and hands folded into an innocent prayer position. "Female youkai are -more often than not- stunning creatures."

It was easy for the rest of us to fall asleep with the monk lying next to Sango in an unconscious heap of limbs.

I woke to the rays of the sun rising over the ocean to the east. The unhindered beams of light spilled across our small camp, rousing the group with a push of cool air laced with the flavors of sea life. We stretched and prepared ourselves for the more leisurely return to Kaede's village, eating a small breakfast and packing our supplies.

"We need to stop in the next village to buy you a new set of clothes," Kagome said as she tugged on the edge of my even-shorter sleeve. It was apparent that I'd grown another few inches overnight, but nobody had any idea how.

"We know you've been behind in development, Shippo, but we are unable to explain how your body is managing to catch up."

"Thanks, Miroku, for stating the obvious," Inuyasha growled. I almost laughed at the way he sounded _just_ like Kagome on one of her _really_ bad days. "Let's just get moving, since we've still got to stop and _shop_ at the next village."

Kagome tugged on a lock of his hair in her slight annoyance as she adjusted her position on his back. I was stuck with riding on Kirara with Sango and Miroku, and I looked longingly over at the girl that I wanted to cling to and never let go.

We traveled quickly that morning, stopping at the next village along the road to purchase some simple new clothes. Kagome thought it would be best if we bought something a little big, just in case I still had a little bit left to grow as we made distance between ourselves and the strange island. It was simple and a little too gray, but it would have to do before I ended up too big for decent covering.


	30. The Birds and the Bees

The trip southeast had taken us about three and a half days with Inuyasha rarely taking any stops to rest, but once our group had gotten on the road, our return trip was just a five-day journey, complete with enough sleep and breaks to keep us on our toes. (And a few side-trips to springs or streams so that the girls remained sufficiently clean and happy.) We only had one youkai encounter worth mentioning, because after years of the same-old-thing, it gets a little silly to talk about every randomly attacking gigantic snake that threatens us with dripping fangs and a terrible lisp.

It had been in the wee hours of early morning, when the little bugs and animals were all silent and at rest. Something woke me from sleep that morning, just a few days after we'd left the coast. Kagome shifted from her spot on the ground and I toppled over onto the sparsely wooded forest floor. I was still half asleep as I reached around to try and return to where Kagome lay, but something weird tickled my senses, pulling me fully from that sleepy daze.

Inuyasha sat alert in a nearby branch, looking off toward the southwest. Then I felt it: the thrum of something heavy in the distance smashing against the earth. It was faint at first, but when it repeated once, then again, I could feel its steadily growing intensity. By this time, everyone had roused from sleep, and we sat in eerie silence with weapons in hand as we waited for a sign of attack.

Kagome stood slowly, slipping an arrow into position on her bow. "It's coming for the Shikon," she whispered, her eyes scanning the woods for our slowly approaching foe. We heard and felt a few more of the massively heavy footfalls before the sounds of splintering wood and groaning tree trunks met our ears. A flock of startled birds took flight from a tree a short distance away, easily visible over the tree line.

" _Shiiikon nooo Taaamaaa"_ came the slow, slurred demand. An enormous hoof-like foot tore a tree from its roots within our sight as the creature stepped to the edge of our small clearing, and we found ourselves craning our necks to see a squashy head high above.

"Eh," Kagome said, almost bewildered.

"What's wrong!" Inuyasha demanded as he drew his blade, never taking his eyes from the odd youkai that towered above us. It stood on four massive legs, the front two were hooves, the back two seemed to be _hands_ of a sort, flattened under the weight of the beast, but sporting claws in an odd shade of brownish yellow. In fact, the whole beast was primarily this shade of color, with large spots of darker brown in odd patterns and stripes along its torso and neck.

"I think... it's a giraffe...?" Kagome ventured, her face scrunching into an expression of disbelief.

"What's a giraffe?" I asked, (although later I would realize that her response of ' _ **That's** a giraffe!_' should have been expected.)

"I thought they only lived in Africa, but I guess when it comes to supernatural creatures, anything goes..." she muttered.

" _Sloooww_ " came the creature's tremendous voice, " _neeeds faassst_ "

"Obviously," Inuyasha grumbled.

Miroku was the first to try reasoning with the beast: "You do not look like the type to fight for the Shikon. You should go home, youkai." Miroku shouted up at the creature. Each of us could easily see that the being was _not_ the sort to engage in any kind of fight, as it didn't seem to have much speed or grace or _any_ indication of power that could prove useful against _anything._

" _Eats biiirds beeees... topsss of trees..._ " it bellowed. Inuyasha snickered into the back of his hand, but I was kind of impressed that the youkai could rhyme even a short phrase like that. " _Neeeds faassst... Neeeds ssscaary..._ "

"You're big enough to scare away most humans, so you don't need the power of the Shikon no Tama, trust me! It only brings disaster!" Sango yelled up at it.

"We really don't want to hurt you," Kagome reasoned. "Just go home!" At that, she glanced back at Sango and Miroku, motioning toward Kirara as she mouthed ' _Let's just leave!_ '

I was confused and amused, because this weird, slow-moving oaf was just standing there, randomly spouting out his silly rhymes or the demand for the Shikon. His head towered above the treetops, dwarfing our much smaller forms.

As we stood there for the few moments of Absolutely-Nothing-Happening, I considered the options our group had in mind: Run away from this idiotic youkai who couldn't take a hint, or stand here just as idiotic as him while we waited for something to happen. It was obvious our group could take him down without any difficulties, although everyone (minus Inuyasha) seemed hesitant on hurting someone so _lame._

I wrung my hands together in anticipation as I looked around at everyone. Sango and Miroku were edging backwards slowly, so as not to draw attention to the fact that they were planning on slipping away – most likely completely unnoticed by the hulking beast. Kagome was trying to catch Inuyasha's attention with low-toned whispers, but Inuyasha seemed to be tuning her out as he smirked up at the youkai. His grip visibly tightened on the hilt of his sword as he waited impatiently for the fight to start, for it seemed obvious that the creature didn't want to back away and leave. Time was running out for the hapless giraffe-youkai, and I knew I'd need to act before Inuyasha just leapt into action.

I knew that a little bit of a scare would probably startle the beast into leaving (just like every other low-level youkai we'd encountered) so I slid into the foliage near our campsite, edging my way toward the youkai's humongous feet. They were each nearly as large as tree trunks, and so I did the only thing I knew how: " _Kitsune-bi!_ " I set his toes on fire.

Giraffe youkai, I discovered at that moment, don't have very good balance, can't take off running when they've been frightened, and most definitely can ** _not_** hop around in surprised pain. The damned thing _fell_ over backwards with a howl of agony, crushing many trees with the impact. After the ground had stopped shuddering from the collision, we were quick to notice the horrible wailing noises the beast made as it kicked and flailed around, squashing more foliage.

"Oh hell..." I muttered, suddenly feeling very sheepish.

" _SHIPPO!_ " Kagome shouted, appalled at my (very minor) attack.

"What?" I asked, trying to hide my disappointment at the creature's unexpected fall. "I didn't _mean_ to do _that,"_ I whined, kicking my toe into the dirt. "I was just trying to scare him into leaving..."

She sighed, stepping forward to lay a calming hand on the now-whimpering youkai. It seemed that he was too top-heavy and wouldn't be able to right himself without assistance, and I'd effectively rendered him helpless... (More than he already was.) "Inuyasha, we can't just leave him like that," she said, frowning slightly.

"Why not? It would save everyone, and not just us, and whole heap of trouble to just leave this moron in the dirt to be finished off by something weak," Inuyasha said, crossing his arms.

"You jerk, he may be a youkai, but that doesn't mean we're allowed to just take away his life by _not_ helping. He looks like he's _normally_ a peaceful creature, so let's help him back up."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her. "Fine. But we're outta here as soon as this damned thing's on his feet again," he growled, pushing up his sleeve. It took our group a few hours (of mostly Inuyasha working) to push the beast back to its feet, and it seemed so grateful to be back in motion again that it completely forgot about its foolish quest to somehow _talk_ us into giving over the Shikon no Tama.

Kagome gave me a stern talking-to after we'd started our journey once more, but the short matter was over. After all, it _was_ a semi-memorable moment in our travels, considering I'd been the one to fell such a towering youkai. I couldn't help but giggle to myself later that night, thinking how easy it would be to impress girls with the story of my 'powerful' foxfire defeating a gigantic youkai.


	31. Home Again

We arrived in Kaede's village two days later, just before lunchtime. The girls immediately bee-lined for the nearby spring to take a bath, while the rest of us unpacked our weapons and supplies next to Kaede's hut to find out what we'd need to replenish before leaving on our next hunt for Shikon shards. Kaede was still out in the village, tending to a woman who'd recently had a baby, but by the time she'd returned to her hut, the girls had dressed in clean clothes and rejoined us.

"I see that your journey was a success," Kaede said, smiling slightly as she sat. Of course, she expected us to tell her the details of our journey to the southeastern shores, as well as our brief experience with the strange woman who had ultimately been the cause and cure of Kagome's problem. Kagome shook the thin bracelet free from her sleeve to show her, then pulled the small pouch from around her neck to give everyone a peek of the strange little blue seed.

"The seed is dormant," Kaede observed. "Very good, considering how close of contact you have with youkai. There's no telling what kinds of trouble it could be if it were actively seeking out sources of youki." Kagome's arms tightened momentarily around me as we sat next to the crackling fire. Especially after Kagome's retelling of our story, we all knew that terrible things could happen if it ever broke out of its seedling stage. "And Shippo," Kaede continued, looking over my obvious changes with a glimmer of amusement, "It seems you have finally sprouted."

"Keh, more like exploded," Inuyasha grumbled. "The runt's twice as big as he was when we left."

"Indeed," Kaede agreed. "You'll need new clothes," she chuckled. My sleeves were already halfway up my forearms, even after buying new (too-big) clothes during our trip.

"You know, maybe I could go home and get some of Souta's old clothes for now, so we don't have to worry about keeping up with buying or borrowing from the villagers," Kagome suggested, tickling me a little bit. I giggled and hugged her, happy that my arms were _almost_ long enough now to wrap around her middle.

"That's a good idea," Miroku said, standing. "Sango and I will make a trip to a few villages nearby and see if anything new has been heard, and we'll meet you back here in two days' time."

"While you're at home, I might as well run to the Western Lands and check with Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha sighed, unable to hide the slight frown of annoyance on his face.

"Shippo, you stay here with Kaede, and don't cause any mischief!" she smirked down at me, ruffling my hair once for good measure. "I'll be back soon with some things for you, okay?" she said, pulling me close for a final hug.

"I'll draw you something while you're gone, Kagome!" I said, all of the ideas I'd had during our trip coming back in vivid detail. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to draw any for her that had her temporary kitsune-appearance in them, but at least I had plenty of inspiration and other ideas to work with from the strange and fantastic things that we saw.

Inuyasha and I accompanied Kagome back to the well, and as soon as she disappeared from sight with a wave, he ruffled my hair and leapt out of sight. I sighed once, knowing he wouldn't be back until around the time Sango and Miroku returned. It would be a boring few days with no one to pick on. I fingered the edge of my sleeve, pulling a thread free as I walked slowly along the worn path leading back toward the village.

Something unusual caught my attention as I turned to cast one last glance back at the Bone-Eater's Well. It was the whiff of something strange, the scent of something that didn't belong in Inuyasha's forest. Something mildly sweet, like the special rice confection Kagome had brought back to share with us one holiday. I followed my nose to the source of the scent, pushing through foliage as my curiosity grew.

' _No... No way...'_ I thought as I looked down upon the beautiful white flower.

When we'd left, the flower had looked like a lily, but had smelled like the thorny weeds it had once been. _Now_ it smelled just like Kagome had that day so long ago... _Much_ to my horror. If the flower's basic essence was turning into what I'd originally imagined, then that would mean... ' _The chocolate..._?' The illusionary chocolate I'd snuck Inuyasha hadn't made him gag and get mad at me... he'd just complained that it had melted. It had been a sign that I'd practically ignored...

_Kagome..._

' _Had Kagome been truly turning into a kitsune youkai? Did the witch's last spell change her back before anything drastic had altered her? What if she'd been too late to stop Kagome's physical change? What if her miko energy had changed while we traveled to something more like my own foxfire?'_ My thoughts ran in circles for more than an hour, wondering what could or would come from such powerful magic running through her for that long. Kagome was a miko, but her body might have been turning into a youkai, which would be against her very nature. But... if Kagome's body _could_ handle the alterations... What would this mean for our group?

Would we lose our miko? She was the deciding factor in many difficult battles we'd had before, and her unique energy was a definite advantage over the more powerful youkai we'd encountered.

Kagome _hadn't_ been feeling well, and she showed signs of sleepiness when she would have normally been active... And this all started happening around the time I started getting bigger, just days after the spell had been cast. My stomach clenched as it all began to fit together: my growth catching up from years of halted development, my powers flaring and working better than they'd ever worked before... it all coincided with the time that it would have taken for the spell to take a firm root in Kagome as it had with the not-so-fake chocolate and -most likely- the flower that stood so beautifully perfect before me now.

There was no other explanation; Kagome _had_ been turning into a real kitsune youkai during our travels, and I'd been instinctively absorbing her youki like she was my own mother. Her youki had most likely been what made her feel unwell, and my contact with her pulled it away from her and put her body at ease while it aided in my own growth.

I stood and walked into the woods in a slight daze, coming to a stop in front of the Goshinboku. I barely thought of anything beyond Kagome as I latched into the bark with my growing claws, climbing slowly up the trunk to a worn branch high above the ground. Kagome would be back, hopefully _very_ soon, and she and I would have to have a very important conversation before the others returned from their short trips. But the longer she stayed away, the more time her youki would have to flare and make her feel sick again...

I eventually fell asleep on that tree branch, hoping and praying that she didn't get so sick that she remained in the future. If Inuyasha were to be gone for possibly days, and her youki was truly the cause of her illness... then the longer she stayed away without someone to go get her, and the worse it could get...

' _I should have figured this out sooner...'_

The tears that leaked from my eyes were ignored as they dried in the cool night air, leaving twin trails of misery as proof of the terrible guilt and worry that plagued my mind.


	32. Interlude - Kagome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome returns home and makes a surprising discovery.

The thrum of old power pushed through the stale air of the small shed, flashing dimly as the energy of the well was activated. The ancient magic carried with it a young woman from the modern era, zinging through her clothes and belongings and lifting her hair with supernatural breeze. Around her neck were two things: a chain that held the still-incomplete Shikon no Tama and a thin string that carried a small leather pouch. The pouch contained a single round seed, the color of sapphire and small as a pea, which was so rare that no one in this day and age would know what sort of plant it had come from.

But today, something different happened in that moment of suspended time where she floated in the void between then and now. The shiver of ancient magic warmed this small seed, filling it with energy that it had waited decades to receive. As the young woman's feet touched the bottom of the dried well, the seed's casing finally cracked open, allowing the smallest sliver of a sprout to creep out. The plant made no further motion after it had been freed, for it had expended all of the energy that it possessed in breaking through its own shell, and so it lay dormant once more in that small leather pouch.

The sound of shoes scraping against wood echoed in the small shed as Kagome climbed up the ladder inside the well. Her backpack appeared first, tossed carelessly over the rim before her head came into sight. She pulled herself over the weathered wood, straightening her dress before she stood and retrieved her pack. She half-ran up the small set of stairs that lead to the sliding door, pulling them aside to let in the bright rays of sun.

She smiled happily at the sight of her brother sweeping the grounds nearby and walked up to greet him. "Back so soon, Sis?" he asked, wiping his brow with the back of a hand.

"Yeah, I wanted to pick up some clothes for Shippo to wear," she said, ruffling his hair.

"Shippo?" Souta asked, batting her hand away from his head. "I thought he was a little bitty guy..?"

Kagome chuckled a bit, shaking her head. "No, something happened recently, and he's growing faster than we can afford to buy him new outfits. I thought it would be a good idea to get some of your old stuff for him to wear until he stops getting taller."

"Oh, I get it. Well, Mom's inside cleaning up from lunch. I bet she knows where all those boxes are," he said, pushing the broom across the stone tiles once again.

"Thanks, squirt," Kagome said, sneaking in a final hair-ruffle before running to her front door. She pushed open the door and slipped off her shoes, calling out, "I'm home!"

"Kagome, dear, you're home early. We didn't expect you back for at least another week. Are you hungry?" her mother greeted, wiping her hands on an apron.

"Not really. I've come home to get some of Souta's old clothes, if that's okay." Kagome took a few moments to tell her mother what had happened, and together they fished out several sets of clothes that would help the young kit in his growth through sizes up to Souta's height, just in case.

A few hours had passed before mother and daughter had finished packing a bag full of spare clothes for Shippo to wear, and by this time, the sun had set. "Will you be staying the night, Kagome?" her mother asked as they stepped into the kitchen.

Kagome slumped at the kitchen table with a half-smile. "Yeah, that would be nice. You know, I think I came down with something minor while we were gone," she said, pressing a hand to her own forehead. "I haven't noticed a fever or anything, but every once in a while, I feel like I'm going to be nauseous."

"Oh, honey, maybe you should go lie down for a while. I'll make you something mild and bring it upstairs. You should have said something sooner," she admonished, ushering the Kagome toward the stairway. "Go on, you deserve some quiet time."

"Alright," she said, trudging up the stairs. Kagome entered her room with a miserable sigh, suddenly feeling even worse than she had before. She pulled off her shirt and pants and tossed them into the laundry basket near her door before she slipped on a set of soft gray pajamas. She pulled her hair back out of her face with an elastic band in case she got sick, then crawled into her bed to bury her face in her cool pillow.

A groan of misery spilled from her lips as her stomach turned, and she was suddenly very glad that she'd missed lunch that day. As a second thought, she pulled the Shikon chain from her neck and piled it on the nightstand, not wanting to be near the broken artifact while she was feeling so sick. ' _With my luck, I'd end up accidentally doing something bad to the shards,'_ she smirked, rolling over to face the wall. She clasped the small leather pouch for a moment in her hand, rubbing the softened material against her cheek before tucking it back into her nightshirt.

Her mother came in a short while later with a cup of warm soup and a few crackers, leaving them beside the now-slumbering miko. She gingerly tucked a loosened strand of hair behind one of Kagome's ears, smiling down at her daughter who'd lived such an amazing life. "Sleep well, sweetheart," she whispered, stepping silently out of the room and closing the door behind her.

Hours later, Kagome woke with a start. Something had disturbed her rest, but as she looked around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She relaxed back into her mattress, pulling the covers up to her chin as she tried to let her senses extend to feel out the shrine grounds. All seemed quiet and peaceful in the area, and she rolled over to try and coax herself back into the blissful land of nausea-free sleep.

She sighed in exasperation as she realized that she was far too hot under the covers to get comfortable. She kicked them off of her body and propped herself up on an elbow, looking longingly at the closed window. Her room seemed to be sweltering! She grimaced as she wiped the sheen of sweat from her face. If she'd had a fever before, then being sweaty was a good sign that it had broken and she was getting better, but she felt so annoyingly _hot_ that she had to open the window and get some air.

The window creaked as she pushed upwards, allowing the cool air to spill over her face and upper body, but one glance around the darkened and peaceful grounds was all she needed to realize she wanted to get outside, _badly._ She turned and retrieved her piece of the Shikon from the nightstand before she crept to her doorway, opening it slowly to avoid making any noise as she made her way to the hallway. Everything within the house was silent as the three occupants continued to sleep on, unaware of her movement as she moved down the stairs and toward the front door.

She slipped on her shoes and slid open the door, sighing as the cool air washed over her to bring her a measure of comfort. She stepped outside and slid the door shut behind her before making her way across the stone path that led to the Goshinboku, where she sat against the trunk with another sigh of relief. As she sat outside in this cool air against the tree that had stood for so very long, she finally felt at ease. It wasn't long before she dozed off once again, the right side of her body supporting her weight against the tree as she curled her knees to the side.

"Kagome?" She shifted and frowned at the interruption in her sleep, but the muddled female's voice sounded vaguely like her mother. She cracked an eye open to find the source of the voice, only to be assaulted with overly bright sunshine.

"Ugh, Mom, close the shades..." she mumbled, closing her eyes again.

"Kagome, are you feeling okay?" her mother asked, shaking her shoulder slightly.

"Yeah, feeling better now," she yawned, stretching her arms and legs. Something felt different, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was...

"Kagome, I can't close the shades, because you're trying to sleep _outside_ ," her mother said.

"Huh?" she asked, sitting upright. She blinked and looked around in confusion, forgetting for a moment that she'd walked outside hours ago to get relief from the heat of her room. "Oh, right. I must have fallen asleep out here," she said, rubbing her head sheepishly.

"Are you sure you're feeling better now?" her mother asked, pressing a hand to her forehead in concern. "I need to leave for a few hours with your Grandfather, and I don't want to leave you here all alone if you're still unwell."

"Where did Souta go?" Kagome asked, standing.

"It's Wednesday, and he had to go to school. Why don't you go inside and eat something? I made sure your supplies are packed and ready to go whenever you decide to leave, just in case you needed to go back soon."

"Oh, thanks Mom," Kagome smiled, giving her a hug. "You're always ahead of me," Kagome grinned, kissing her mother's cheek. "Have a good day today, and don't worry about me. I'm feeling much better now. I've got to get those clothes back to Shippo this morning, so I'll leave after I get a bath and change."

"Alright, dear. Give me a call if you need something else while I'm gone, and I'll bring it home for you this afternoon, okay?" She waved goodbye to her daughter as she walked toward the shrine steps, and she soon disappeared from view.

Kagome sighed happily, looking around the grounds lit with bright, early morning sunshine. She felt much better today, regardless of the fact that she'd managed to sleep outside instead of in her comfortable bed. She felt like she'd had the most wonderful dream, and she couldn't keep the smile from her face as she skipped toward her front door. Her cheer seemed _almost_ excessive, considering how very yucky she'd felt the night prior, but waking up feeling great was probably enough justification as long as nobody _saw_ her acting like a child. She _was_ practically an adult!

She chuckled as she ran up the steps, intent on getting a quick bath and breakfast before heading back to the Feudal Era. Hopefully Shippo hadn't grown out of his clothes while she'd spent the night at home. She twisted the faucets to start filling the bath before she pulled off her shirt and pants, tugging her hair free of the drooped ponytail. As she flipped her head forward to gather her hair up into a loose bun, the leather pouch, or what remained of it, fell into her view and bounced against the sparkling chunk of Shikon.

The soft leather had been somehow shredded, and she held it carefully between her fingers while she looked at it in confusion. The pouch was now empty, of course, since there really wasn't much of a pouch _left_ to _hold_ anything. She frowned, remembering that the night prior, the pouch had been very much intact as she'd held it in her hand, but something must have happened while she slept. The seed was gone, lost somewhere along the path between her room, the tree, and the bathroom... And there was a very slim (slightly impossible) chance that someone or something had stolen the object overnight, but she hadn't had someone approach her unawares since...

"OH MY GOD!" she shrieked, catching sight of her reflection in the mirror.

She screamed and twisted and turned, trying to reach behind her in a complete panic as she'd just noticed _where_ the blue seed had gone. There was a bright blue vine _attached_ to her back! It seemed to anticipate her motion, curling in on itself and shifting easily to avoid her grasping fingertips. Kagome was in a state of shock: The vine was _extremely_ dangerous to humans, and the fact that it was _against_ her skin could mean...

She paused, mid-reach...

The vine uncurled itself, extending wide, bright blue leaves in a slow, non-threatening motion to wrap around her shoulders to give her a slight squeeze. The old woman's words from before came to Kagome's mind as she tried to calm herself: ' _the oil it extracts can paralyze any human_ '

Yet... she was able to move. She'd been able to move freely the whole morning, without any strange side effects. She felt perfectly fine, and her first thought was that the old woman had exaggerated the dangers of the vine...

She gingerly touched one of the wide leaves that lay against her bare shoulder, stroking it in curiosity. She felt the vague sense of happiness flow through her, alien to the thoughts and confusion that she currently felt. ' _How strange,'_ she thought, brushing her fingertips against it again. It was almost as if she _knew_ it enjoyed her touch.

"That's impossible," she muttered, twisting around to look at her back in the mirror. Sometime during the night, the blue vine had burst from the confines of the pouch and worked its way around to latch onto her back, reaching out with tiny tendrils and leafy extensions from her shoulder blades to her hips. ' _How it is holding itself in place?'_ she thought, trying to turn just right to see where it had attached itself.

It shifted then, pulling a few sections away that had blocked her view, and she gasped. It had (in a strange coincidence) _shown_ her where it had _burrowed_ into her skin, anchoring itself along the middle portion of her spine. She shuddered as she watched another few tendrils come into sight momentarily, only to disappear as well beneath her flesh without a twinge of pain. "Okay, this is freaky," she murmured, pinching her arm hard to make sure she was really and _truly_ awake. "I'm not dreaming?"

Her shoulders were squeezed again in some strange measure of comfort as she continued to examine her reflection in confusion. She frowned as she watched a few of the leaves shift and extend, resettling against her skin once they'd grown a few inches. ' _I can either stand here and watch this thing move, or get on with my morning...'_ she thought, trying not to think about the plant currently smoothing its length along her back and shoulders. ' _Bath, then back to Kaede's, and hopefully she or Sango will be able to do **something...**_ '

She stood there and watched the bathtub continue to fill, constantly aware of the leaves sliding against her skin as she tried to piece together any sort of idea as to _what_ or _how_ this had happened. It was unnerving, wondering if she had made a mistake by keeping the seed so close to her body, or if her greatest mistake would be to sit here and allow the vine to freely roam the expanse of her back as she spent the time preparing for another possibly-lengthy journey to the feudal era.

She tried to rationalize her fear away, keeping in mind that the plant, were it truly as dangerous as the old woman had made it out to be, would have surely killed her by now, either through the poison or paralysis or seizures or whatever would result from being in constant contact - as well as its tendrils _burrowing_ into her skin. ' _Is it really a harmless plant, or am I somehow immune to its dangerous properties? It doesn't seem like the old woman would have me retrieve a harmless seed as part of my 'cure' if it did nothing at all, so there must be something that it was required for...'_

As she sat, lost in her thoughts and the comforting sound of the bath filling, Buyo, the long time family cat, padded into the small room and looked up into her confused face. Kagome vaguely registered the vibrant shade of blue as it slid into her vision, a wide leaf barely brushing the unsuspecting feline across the nose. The cat immediately froze and slumped to its side, completely immobile. Kagome gasped and dropped to her knees to reach out for her poor, hapless cat, pulling Buyo into her arms.

"Buyo!" Kagome said, panicked that her beloved cat would be unable to breathe- or that its heart would stop... or something _else_ so terrible that would cause its untimely death. The cat suddenly blinked and yowled, jerking free from her grip to race from the bathroom in terror. Kagome remained on the floor, staring at the place her cat had disappeared around the corner as she tried to process what had happened.

The vine had paralyzed her cat with the barest touch. Even though the debilitating effect had faded away quickly, it was still blindingly obvious that she was currently playing 'garden' to a potentially dangerous plant that had to be dealt with as soon as possible. She stood, turned off the bath faucet, and left the bathroom, forgetting to let the water drain as she ran into her bedroom.

She threw on a pair of pants and a shirt, trying to ignore the creepy way the vine worked to help pull the material down over her head, and raced down the stairs, barely taking the time to grab her bow and the two bags that had been packed before she flew out of the front door, running full speed toward the well.

She yanked the doors to the shed apart, taking no extra time to pull them shut behind her as she vaulted into the inky darkness of the time portal that would pull her five hundred years into the past. The familiar, ancient magic surrounded her, pulling lightly at her hair and tingling through her skin as she floated for a moment, but as soon as her feet touched solid ground, she was climbing the worn stone walls, using various roots and creeping foliage for handholds.

Regardless of the extra bag weighing her down this morning, her climb seemed less difficult than usual, as though she weren't lifting her full weight at all. ' _Must be the adrenaline rush from fear for my friends, family and fat, lazy pets...'_ she thought as she pulled herself over the edge of the weathered wood. She almost breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Kaede was but a short distance away...

Her head shot up in horror at the first sound she heard.

"Kagooomeee!"

' _Oh no... Shippo...!'_


	33. Another Cold Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome returns from the future and meets up with Shippo and Kaede, and after Shippo tries his very best to explain what he thinks has happened, someone unexpected pops in for a visit...

When the sun rose the next morning without sign of Kagome's return, I took it upon myself to pace oh-so-faithfully at the edge of the clearing. Over and over again, I had to remind myself that the most I could do was wait (patiently as I could) and pray that she'd return as soon as possible, simply for the sake of her well being... not to mention that I was also in need of some serious cuddle time to best assuage my worry for her.

The bright blue light that signaled her return almost went without my notice, for I'd been so busy imagining the various ways we'd greet one another that I though it had just been one of my little daydreams. Then I heard the soft sounds of shoe scraping against rock and the quiet rustle of vine echoing from the interior of the well that proved my hopes to be reality. I turned to sprint in her direction, knowing that at any moment she'd be back within my grasp, and all my fears could be set at ease once more.

Halfway across the clearing, something frighteningly familiar snaked into sight and caused me to trip and tumble -face-first, Inuyasha-style- to an unexpected halt. My next breath of air got stuck in my throat (behind an overwhelming glob of terror for my favorite human in the whole world) as I tried to convince myself that there was _no way_ I'd just seen...

I was almost afraid to look as I picked myself up from the dirt, but sure enough - as soon as my sight settled upon that weathered wooden rim, a bright, unmistakably blue vine flipped into view. My eyes widened as it wound its way along the lip of the well, firmly anchoring its deadly leaves into the grooves and cracks... My first thought (after the initial fear and disbelief, of course) was that the vine was attempting to climb out, just like...

' _Kagome!'_

I could feel every hair on my oh-so-adorable tail stand on end as I finally realized the awful truth: Kagome was _inside_ the well with that evil blue vine! I don't know _why_ I stood there frozen in panic when I'd already told myself (a million times over, I bet) that I'd risk life and limb to save Kagome from any danger that might come her way...

The sight of her hand coming into view was probably what finally spurred me back into motion.

" _Kagooomeee!"_ I wailed, pushing myself to run toward her just as her face came into sight. She looked unharmed, but she seemed completely unaware of the deadly flora that was plainly visible barely a foot from her. Her head snapped up the instant she heard my voice, and the previous expression of early-morning grouchiness changed into pure terror so quickly that I was _sure_ she'd just noticed the terrible danger she was in.

"Shippo, get back!" she shouted, frantically waving her free hand at me as she pushed herself onto the edge of the well. "It's not safe - go find Kaede!" She climbed over the rim on the well's opposite side, stumbling once on her now-discarded backpack as she tried to back away from me. I cringed, my eyes bulging from their sockets in absolute _horror_ as I plainly saw those deadly blue vines _retreat_ into the sleeves of her shirt! I wanted to stay and do _something_... **_anything_** that could help - but I quickly realized that Kagome's stricken expression wasn't because she was afraid for her own safety... she was worried about _me_.

It had only been a short moment of hesitation... I nodded shakily and took off in the opposite direction, using any of the tricks at my disposal to zip through the village, speedily glancing through each hut until I found the aged miko. She understood my panicked explanation for her presence being needed and followed me - albeit slowly - back down the path to the well. ...It took her so damned _long_ that I nearly gave in to the urge to _carry_ her the rest of the short distance, but one harsh look from her at the muttered suggestion gave me an extra bit of patience.


	34. How do you say...

Just as we cleared the tree line, Kagome caught sight of our approach and stood. "Kaede, what do I do about this vine!" It seemed almost odd that she would need to ask such a question, because the bright blue vines made no motion to hide its presence. It slipped around her arms, the vibrant color standing out against the soft tan of her skin.

Kaede released a soft sigh, and I got the strangest feeling that she'd been expecting something like this. Kagome continued to stand behind the well, a fist held to her mouth that did little to hide the trepidation in her eyes. I think the only thing keeping Kagome _moderately_ calm was the easy pace Kaede and I took while approaching her.

Kagome clasped her hands together as she sat on the edge of the well, her eyes downcast. "The old woman _told_ us all of the dangers, but I had no idea..."

"Kagome, child... Calm yourself. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened after you returned home. Did the plant harm a member of your family?" Kaede continued to walk toward Kagome at her hobbling pace, unconcerned with any possible threat the vine might have posed.

"When I woke up this morning, I was going to take a bath before coming back, but as I took off my shirt, I found that it..." she paused, shuddering at some remembered moment. She turned partially to the side to lift the back of her shirt, exposing the middle portion of her back. I watched in morbid fascination as the plant shifted and settled against the smooth flesh. "It had attached itself... I couldn't grab hold of it to pull it away from me, and then my _cat_..." The shirt fell back into place as Kagome pressed her fingers to her eyes. I could see her lips tremble, but she stubbornly clamped them tight together to prevent the sobs that threatened to break free. To see her in such a state made my heart twist. Kagome was trying her best not to burst into miserable tears, and she probably felt as afraid and confused as I did...

Kaede's eye narrowed in brief contemplation and after a moment of silence, she let out a heavy breath and carefully folded her knees beneath her to sit upon the grass. Her fingers laced together in her lap as she closed her eyes and relaxed. "I was afraid this would happen," she murmured. "Kagome, come sit by us," she said, motioning to the ground. I edged toward her and sat as well, watching Kagome in nervous anticipation. If Kaede felt comfortable enough with the dangerous vine to encourage Kagome to be near us, then I knew there probably wasn't as _much_ danger as I'd previously feared.

"But... the vine has already knocked out my cat - I didn't even have the chance to stop it... What if it hurts you, or absorbs all of Shippo's energy?" I shuddered visibly at the suggestion, and Kagome remained rooted to her seat on the far edge of the well, unwilling to approach us.

"Child, do not fear. Your friends should be safe for the time being. The old woman had you collect that seed for a _very_ specific purpose, and I believe Shippo has already discovered why," she said, giving me a pointed look. Of course, at this statement, I gulped nervously, glancing between the two women. My poor mind was still stuck on the idea that Kagome had that horrible plant writhing around her limbs... So I had no idea what the _hell_ she meant _me_ to tell Kagome that either woman did not already know. "Or perhaps," she continued, "He'd like to show you what he found yesterday?"


	35. Sharing Something Beautiful

My thoughts came to a screeching halt as something familiar and terribly important tickled my brain. ' _I found...?'_ It took nearly a single breath before it all came rushing back: the beautiful white flower, so perfect in every detail, no longer the strange illusion it had once been. My worries about Kagome deflated immediately as something very obvious popped into mind: the vine had _purpose_...

I'd been so worried for her health the night before that I'd paced for hours, even cried myself to sleep... But the solution to the problem had been within reach the whole time, and I hadn't thought of it once. I realized I'd gotten lost in my thoughts and blinked quickly, nodding as I stood. "Come on, I'll show you," I whispered, knowing she'd hear and follow. The fear I had felt (my own, as well as Kagome's) when her problem had first been exposed had shifted into a sort of anxious curiosity as we allowed our thoughts to twist around this strange development in our already-tumultuous lives. I'm sure Kagome was still nervous about allowing the vine near me, and I was terribly curious about what had happened to her lazy cat...

"What did you find, Shippo?" she asked, pulling me from semi-evil thoughts of neko-demise. I glanced over my shoulder at her as she followed me from the clearing. She looked so hopeful and confused - I almost hated not knowing exactly what she thought about the situation. Kagome has always had way too much patience for me...

"You have to see it, to believe it, I think..." I was unsure of how I could even _begin_ to say aloud what I had discovered. To come right out and say, ' _You're a real youkai_!' seemed like... well, wrong. I'm sure that she'd forgive me for everything, just like she always does, but I knew that dropping that simple statement would be too much...

Maybe by showing her the clues I'd discovered, the idea would naturally follow, and I wouldn't actually have to be the one to tell her. "You remember the lily...?" I began, knowing we were near the place it grew.

"Yes," she responded hesitantly, crouching to step underneath a low-hanging branch. "What happened to it?" she asked, catching the sad note in my voice.

' _It's perfect,_ ' I wanted to say, but I bit my lip as we slipped through the tree line. I barely caught Kaede's voice as she muttered something about returning to the village for lunch as I skirted around a prickly bush, following my nose back to the secluded spot.

Before I realized it, we were at the edge of the small thicket... and suddenly I found I couldn't swallow. I cleared my throat and snuck a glance up at the girl beside me, who didn't seem as tall as I'd remembered during our trip... I firmed my resolve and pressed into the secluded space, moving to the side so that Kagome might have room to crawl in beside me, and together we crouched next to the beautiful white flower.

"Shippo," she breathed, smiling slightly. "There is nothing wrong..." She giggled a little nervously as she gently ran a finger along the soft petal. "I was worried that the flower had wilted, and that I was going to be _next_." She winked at me, and I felt my cheeks turn pink in slight embarrassment.

"It's nothing like that," I murmured, pushing a pebble with my finger. "When I asked the old lady to help you, I didn't think that she'd..." I paused, not sure how to say what I had in mind. Kagome smiled warmly and ran her fingertips through my bangs, encouraging me to continue. "Well, she did just as I asked and gave you back your identity, but she couldn't undo the spell." I watched her carefully for reaction to my words, but all she did was purse her lips in slight consideration.

She nodded once as she shifted to sit in the dirt. "Well, I kind of suspected that was the case, since she'd given me something to wear to change me back..."

I tugged on the front of her shirt to interrupt her as I pointed to the flower. "But there's more to it, Kagome."

"More?" she asked, frowning slightly as she turned her attention back to the precious white plant. Time seemed to slow as she leaned forward to brush her cheek against the single bloom, her bright face softening in the late afternoon light.

I knew it the moment she realized what I had discovered the day prior, and she met my searching gaze with her own as her hand absently settled on one of the bright blue leaves that had settled around the curve of her neck. "Then that means the vine..." Her line of sight slid from me to the forest floor as she paused. "It was meant to absorb _my_ _youki_?"


	36. Accepting the Truth

Her face had paled slightly at this idea, and I figured a change of topic would be a good idea. "Kagome, you still look the same..." Her mouth turned into a slight smile at my earnest expression, and I turned more to face her, tilting my head to look up into her downcast face. "But I think..." My voice dropped to a whisper as the next words pushed forth, "you're probably as much kitsune as I am, now."

I couldn't think of anything else to say after that.

I felt strange... torn between so many emotions. I felt joy that Kagome and I now shared something very special, very unique and rare... but my heart twisted with sadness that I'd changed my favorite human into something she may not want to be. I was frustrated that I hadn't clarified what the old woman should do (she'd given back Kagome who she was, but the spell remained intact... I should have _known_ she'd take into account my wording!) And now, those fluttering butterflies in my stomach told me how damned nervous I was. My biggest worry was still the same - How would Kagome ultimately deal with her new 'self?'

We stayed in that spot for hours, watching the flower rustle slightly in the stray breeze that filtered through the underbrush. "I think I figured everything out once I saw this flower," I said, pulling at my too-short sleeve again. "My growth... strange things about your actions and behavior... It's all because you'd changed during our trip."

Kagome tugged on my hand as she turned and the two of us crawled out of the underbrush. The forest seemed subdued and calm as we made our way back to the well in silence. "Shippo, I don't understand... What does your sudden development have anything to do with me?"

I rubbed my forearm as I tried to piece together a good answer that would not confuse us both. "Well, I'm not really sure. I've been thinking a lot about Mother and Father lately, and I guess the way I've been growing probably happened because you and I are so very close." My face scrunched up at the thought of what I needed to tell her, because it wasn't something that I really wanted to talk about, especially at this moment.

I had, once before, told Kagome and Inuyasha how Mother had disappeared before Father's death... It had been shortly after my attempt to steal Kagome's Shikon shards so many years ago. I'd found it impossible to tell them about the loss of my parents without blubbering like a baby. (Talk about _embarrassing_...) That night was the first that I slept curled up next to Kagome. She had helped me realize I was no longer alone.

"When Mother never came home..." I began, feeling the stirrings of despair that only surfaced when I talked about that time in my life. Kagome touched my arm, lending her silent support in that moment of echoing sadness. "Well, that was when I stopped growing, really..." My voice trailed off as my thoughts centered on Kagome and the implications of what my connection with her could mean.

"To think that it's started again, and at such a fast pace... the _only_ reason could be because I'm using your energy. It must be why you're so tired when we're near, especially if my body is trying to catch up with my age. And I think that's what the vine is for, now..."

"I ...see," she said, seeming as though she were lost in her thoughts.

A short breeze ruffled our hair and clothes as we stepped back into the well's clearing. Kagome pushed a lock of hair from her face as she glanced over at me. "You know," she murmured, "I'd like to go back to the ocean sometime, with you. It was so nice to listen to the waves rolling in..."

The nervous fluttering that had been plaguing my insides settled at this positive change in topic. Memories of the short time we'd spent on those sun-warmed shores filtered through my dark musings and sparkled with the hope that we'd have time together.


	37. Calm Before the Storm

She grinned down at me and stopped to pull me into the circle of her embrace. "Jeez, Shippo, you're really getting humongous. Let's go dig out some clothes for you to wear, okay?"

The sun had barely begun to dip below the tree line as we dug through the bags of clothes her mother had packed. I ended up wearing a pair of loose-fitting pants and a slightly baggy t-shirt - just to make sure I had a bit of room to grow overnight. I wasn't too sure I'd be growing at such an accelerated rate anymore, though, since the vine had attached itself to Kagome to absorb her youki. Without that excess of energy, the only way I'd be able to draw from Kagome anymore is if I somehow tapped into her spiritual energy again... But doing so could prove dangerous to Kagome if it left her sleepy or feeling drained before a battle.

I knew I'd have to keep my distance from Kagome from now on, just to be on the safe side... hers and mine. The vine had tucked itself out of sight under her clothes, but the knowledge that it was there and fear of the unknown held me back when I would have rather curled up close.

After I'd changed out of my ridiculously short outfit, Kagome and I settled in the grass, a short distance from the dry well. It was strange, almost, having her just to myself as the sun began to set. "Kagome, when this I all over... you know we'd want you to stay with the group. You wouldn't have to hide behind the bracelet, and you could be..." I stopped mid-sentence. I wanted to say, ' _You can be yourself,'_ but I knew that wasn't true, and it would make no difference how I worded it. Kagome would never be 'herself' anymore, no matter where she lived or what she did.

"I know, Shippo. We _could_ stay together and be a family. You really need someone who'll always be there for you..." I could sense her sadness as she spoke, so I took her hand within my own as we both looked up at the slowly appearing stars. "But I don't belong in this era, and we both know that. Besides... I could never raise you the right way... There's only so much a human can do in the place of a youkai parent or relative."

She knelt down beside me and squeezed my hand tightly. "I'll never be able to teach you the basic skills of survival that every little kit needs to know. And I'd never be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to you because of my ignorance." She was right, of course... She and I were now both in the same boat, so to speak. We both had no idea how to really use our gifts, but still, the glimmer of hope remained that we would find a way to live together. I couldn't help the dreams of keeping Kagome around forever... It ate at my heart to know that one day she'd go home and never come back again.

"Maybe fate won't be so cruel to keep us apart forever," she winked. "I imagine with all the crap we've gone through to help out others, we've worked a bit of good karma into our futures..."

I think I noticed the silence first. The small nest of baby birds that had been chirping nearby fell silent. Animals that had just been quietly rustling in the underbrush for food grew still. The entire forest paused, as though holding its breath. I could feel the fine hairs from my arms to my nape stand straight as a shiver of apprehension snaked up my spine.

The wind had come to a complete standstill, and the warmth from the day had become nearly stifling without the cool evening breeze.

I could see Kagome tense at the edge of my peripheral vision. I shifted toward her as the sound of my name slipped through her lips, carried on the breath of her exhalation.

Years of Inuyasha taking out his frustration on those youkai stupid enough to come within miles of the forest surrounding the village had practically ensured our safety, day or night. It was common knowledge throughout the lands: to set foot within his territory was to invite death.

Especially as Naraku thinned out the population of middle to high-classed youkai in search of new strengths, very few beings seemed to remain strong enough to pose a threat to us.

The odds were _definitely_ in our favor as Kagome and I rose by that battered old well, tensed and waiting for the inevitable encounter.

I took one breath, then two, feeling the damp evening air fill my lungs as we glanced through the surrounding trees. The flavors of the wind passed through my nose and over my tongue, telling me everything about the plants and animals nearby...

Something snapped. An invisible dam that held back a crushing wave of jyaki broke, unleashing upon us a staggering flow of dark energy. Kagome reacted instinctively, erecting a diverting barrier around us, but it wasn't in time to prevent the intended damage. We both fell to the ground, stunned.

Hordes of lower-classed youkai erupted from the tree line on all sides, converging on our location with random offensive blasts of power. I found out how wrong I was: the odds were _no_ _way_ in our favor.

We scrambled, trying to get a decent distance from the Bone Eater's Well and a workable defensive position.


	38. Distractions

_Number one rule when going up against an enemy that has you outnumbered and surrounded: **stick together**._

Kagome worked with fluid efficiency at my back; the evening gloom was lit up in the brilliant glow of her holy arrows streaking toward the looming masses. My hands ached as I flung a burst of foxfire at a fast-moving youkai that had evaded Kagome's most recent arrow. The fire connected with the beast's flank and unexpectedly _splashed._ As the youkai fell to the earth, shrieking and writhing and consumed by the flames, I turned and flung another mass of flames. I had wanted to stand and gape at the obvious alteration to my foxfire, but there was no _time_ to think about it.

Another creature screeched and flew past in a blur of leathery wings; I barely caught the beast's flank with a swipe of my sharp claws. It shrieked as blood spattered across my face, but it flew away as quickly as it had approached and I did not get a chance to finish the beast. I felt something drizzle down my fingers and pool underneath my claws... enough to drip audibly to the grass at my feet with a near-silent hiss. I glanced down, concerned that I may have sustained some sort of unnoticed injury that had caused my own blood to spill...

Droplets of a thick liquid clung to the crushed blades of grass, dimly glowing pale blue like my foxfire. Confused, my gaze flicked between the still dripping fingertips and the sizzling mess on the ground. ' _That's odd, the color's all wrong. That last youkai had red blood, not blue...'_ My thoughts felt jumbled and confused as I tried to figure out what was so _wrong_ about the liquid dripping from my fingers.

A bright flash to my left pulled my attention from the odd liquid too late. The sound of an explosion made my ears ring, drowning out everything else as I felt my larger frame crash heavily against a youkai in my path.

I twisted my body to roll with the collision; my arm flew to the right, crushing the creature's snout as he scrambled for an attack.

' _Kagome!'_ I leapt to my feet, scanning the hordes of youkai for any sign of her. Instead of an organized wave of attacking youkai, the beasts seemed confused and scattered; some were fighting amongst one another in the blurry haze of smoke. ' _What the hell's happening?_ '

My mind was a swirl of confusion. There should have been an obvious flow of battle... Maybe a divide-and-conquer strategy, a flood of youkai so thick it would wear us down, or even a maneuver to flank us... This fight seemed completely uncoordinated and random, as though someone had ordered the army to kill enemies and allies indiscriminately...

But where my logic failed, instinct stepped in. The screeching howl of a hulking beast met my ears, and time slowed.

I forgot to think. My worry about our slim chance of survival faded into a fog.

My feet left the ground in a gravity-defying leap - the youkai barely had time to look up before my foot collided with its jaw. My hands were ablaze as I used the still-reeling youkai as a platform to skip over a grappling pair of slimy things. I absently flicked the liquid that had collected on my fingertips onto the creature below me and it ignited with the bright flare of my foxfire.

Blue flame splattered across the surrounding creatures and stuck, spreading to everything it touched. To stop and admire the newly discovered attack would mean losing precious seconds -

I had to find Kagome.

The confusing fight flashed by in a horrible mix of sluggish haze and lightning-quick clarity; youkai originally rallied to kill the two of us seemed unsure of who was friend or foe, and certain youkai seemed to become targets if they stood out from the horde. A hacked off limb flew by my neck as I touched off into another leap.

A blur of motion and roars muffled by the haze of battle - then suddenly I saw one of Kagome's arrows streak through the sky.

My breath was coming in quick pants as I dodged between the legs of a towering oni - I leapt when I heard the whistle of wind behind me, tucking my legs up and twisting mid-air to kick off the oni's swinging attack with a boost in momentum.

My hands flashed at my sides as I soared through the smoky air, sending the flaming liquid in wide arcs toward any youkai nearby.

Amidst the screams and howls of battle and pain, I could hear her shouting my name.

' _Almost there, how'd I get so far away!_?'

A lucky strike broke my left shoulder, singeing the material of my borrowed shirt. A clawed hand tore through my thigh before I blindly struck back with my own burning claws -

\- And then I was there. Kagome released another arrow before immediately swinging her bow around to strike at a youkai that had managed to draw close enough. It disintegrated in a muted flash of holy light and ash.

"Shippo!" Kagome exclaimed, relief written across her face. The moment was short-lived as I glanced down to find she had only two arrows left... I met her determined gaze with a firm expression that conflicted with my adolescent appearance.

Gone were my days of flower picking and butterfly chases with Rin... ' _Last night, I cried myself to sleep..._ ' My hand flicked outward in a reversed swipe, sending streaks of fiery liquid at another wave of approaching youkai as I backed toward Kagome.

She was bruised and bleeding from a cut on her arm, but still looked to be in good shape. "Together," I heard her say. "We can do this!" I nodded as her right hand found my left in a brief lull in the onslaught. My broken shoulder was numb from the pain, but at least the gashes on my thigh had stopped bleeding.

Between our combined efforts and the odd confusion that randomly pit the attacking youkai against one another, we were holding a decent defense.

Stumbling through the shock and awe of a brand-new attack in the middle of a battle - as I'd learned with the flaming liquid trick earlier - seemed to carry with it a painful price.

It was a flying bug that moved faster than I did that triggered the second discovery that night. I'd sent a barrage of illusionary flashes mixed with foxfire to scatter and burn a swarm of giant insects, but one escaped and came in for a swift counter-attack on my left side.

I was still unable to lift that arm - and there was no way to turn in time to defend with my strong arm...

I needed to be strong. I couldn't fall to a tiny bug like this.

I had to be able to fight alongside Kagome, for together we would make it, or together we would fall.

In that single, fleeting moment of clarity, a pale blue barrier sprang to life - the insect collided with it and promptly burst into flames.

I blinked in shock. ' _Those weren't flames of purification...'_ I shot a look of astonishment over my shoulder at Kagome, whose occasional flashes of energy glowed with an obvious pink tint. I felt the shudder of energy as a monstrous youkai crashed into the barrier.

I turned and saw a hairy, twisting mass of sharp teeth and spindly legs burst into flames as well. The barrier flickered and faded as I watched in stunned disbelief at the unexpected display of power. ' _Father..._ '

Because I was relatively sheltered in my early days as a kit, I had seen my father use a barrier in battle only once - as a last measure to protect Kagome and me during the fight with Hiten - the elder Thunder Brother...

My thoughts jerked to a halt as something flashed in the edge of my peripheral: The last victim of my unexpected barrier apparently had a significant other that looked just as ugly and _twice_ as big. Its spindly legs snapped out and caught me in a crushing grip, and my exclamation of ' _Shit,'_ ended up being only a sharp hiss of expelled air as the damned beast _squeezed_.

Searing agony tore through my mending shoulder as the humongous hairy worm tried to twist me in half. White stars of pain flashed before my vision as Kagome turned and saw me, her eyes widening in fright. I couldn't hear anything beyond the blood thundering loudly in my ears, but I could see her hand reach in my direction, her lips forming a desperate plea of denial.

I knew Kagome wouldn't be able to purify the youkai while it held me, and I had become so focused on Kagome's stricken expression that I almost missed the flash of blue in my peripheral. The second and third flashes caught my attention as the furry abomination - some dastardly cross between a centipede and raccoon - that held me captive crumbled into dust.

I collapsed into a heap of agony as my injured shoulder - and whatever the hell had happened to my _back_ \- protested the rough jarring motion, leaving no room to wonder anymore at my unexpected rescue.

I coughed and wiped a smear of blood and ash from my mouth. Kagome helped me stand, and together we stood to face whatever might come next.


	39. Silence

Kagome had her bow and final arrow clutched in her left hand as she held me to her side for support.

We waited for another attack. Not much time had passed since the battle began, for the sky had not completely darkened yet.

Flickering blue vestiges of my foxfire still illuminated the battle that had occurred near the well. A few of the larger youkai were still slowly dissolving due to grazes with Kagome's power. A cloying film of dust and ash drifted in wisps with an encroaching fog, sticking to the sweat and blood on our bodies and making a terrible mess.

The remaining youkai seemed to hover in wait, at the edge of the clearing. The evening air was humid and still... completely quiet, save for a strange clacking noise coming from somewhere in front of a... _'Not clacking..._ ' I realized, my eyes narrowing on the faint red glow I could see just ahead of us.

Naraku came into view as he rounded a tree trunk. ...And he was clapping. "What an interesting evening," he said with an amused smile. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to punch him squarely in the mouth. "All alone in the deep, dark forest, with no protection from the monk, slayer, cat or dog..." he sighed with mock disappointment. "And of course, _you_ have just what I need, too..." he purred, walking a slow circle around the clearing. He didn't draw any nearer, though, as he closed his eyes and smiled.

"You know, I couldn't have planned this better. It's as though you _invited_ me to pay you a visit," he grinned, stopping to lean against a tree. "I suppose I should be fair, and give you a head start. You could run for a while, I think, until you tire... or until I catch you." He examined one of his perfectly groomed claws as he sighed in mock annoyance. "But I'd hate to draw this out anymore than we've already done so, what with the _years_ we've played chase."

"What took you so long to get around to finishing this?" Kagome demanded as her frustration and annoyance surfaced.

"Well, I was looking for further additions to my form, and I found a few new little minions for your friends to play with," he smirked, looking far too confident. "I'm afraid your companions will be a bit too _occupied_ to come running to your rescue for a while," he said, moving away from his tree trunk with easy grace.

"Three years of violence, betrayals, and mind games... and _this_ is how it's going to end?" Kagome asked with a look of complete disbelief.

"Ah, yes," he grinned. "Of course, I came prepared with some minor allies to keep you busy for a little while, but don't worry. You won't be alive when it comes time to explain your loss to Inuyasha."

"Oh, thanks," Kagome grumbled, pulling back her last arrow to aim at his face. Before she could release, he faded from sight into the smallest wisp of a shadow, reappearing dozens of feet away. Kagome quickly adjusted her aim to line up with his new location, but he vanished again, this time to appear in the trees high above us. The game continued for a few moments as Kagome became more and more agitated, and finally she shouted, "Hold still, you bastard, so I can _kill_ you!"

He chuckled darkly, vanishing completely in another unexpected (well, maybe not _totally_ unexpected) wave of lesser youkai. Kagome growled in exasperation, tucking her arrow away safely before taking up another defensive stance with her bow. The blue vines uncurled from her arms and arched around her, ready to lash out in any direction.

The previous fight had drained our energy, and with Kagome down to a single arrow, I knew we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves forever. Kagome's blue vine snapped out at approaching youkai, and I realized the source of their initial confusion. The attacking youkai had been determined to get to Kagome, but as the youki drained from their companions, the creatures that had witnessed the attack immediately turned and attacked one another.

A brief lull in the battle revealed Naraku floating high above us, enshrouded in his protective barrier as he watched our meager fighting with a smirk. "You know," he called down to us, "You could just hand over that piece of my jewel and make it easier for yourself..."

I knew Kagome wouldn't give up so easily... " _You_ could make it easier for the whole _world_ by just handing your piece over to _us_!" she shouted, her hands clenched in rage.

"He could just roll over and die and save us the trouble," I muttered, pushing an annoying lock of red hair out of my eyes.

"Ah, the kit speaks," he sneered down at me. "...And has grown a remarkable amount since I last spied upon your group." He seemed to look thoughtful for the smallest moment of time before I found myself picked up by one of his earthy tentacles. The motion had been so swift that I barely had time to suck in a fresh breath of air before I found my chest compressed in a tight squeeze.

' _Not again!'_ My shoulder still ached terribly as the bones mended and pulled back together, and I could barely suppress the groan of agony.

He lifted me swiftly to meet his gaze, and I found the fear that gripped me overshadowed the throbbing pain that lingered in my shoulder. "What has allowed you to grow so much in size and power?" he murmured, running a claw down my cheek. Terror (and those stupid tentacles wrapped around my arms and torso) kept me paralyzed in his grip, and I was helpless to do anything against him as he examined me for other obvious changes or additions.

His gaze slid toward the miko standing far below. "How unusual, for the child to have gained so much in such a short time... Whatever has caused your young friend to grow will certainly be a useful addition to my own form." My heart stopped as the thought of being absorbed sunk into my head. "And after I've finished with him, I'll take back what rightfully belongs to me."

There was but a brief pause before I felt his grip widen and envelop my lower body. The field had grown eerily silent, as though in anticipation of retaliation by Kagome, or some emotional outburst of tears... Naraku was still watching her, an evil smirk just barely twisting his lips.

"No, you won't," I heard her say. Naraku paused in his motions, clearly intrigued by her suddenly grim attitude. The grip on her bow and final arrow slackened, allowing the two to slip to the ground with a slight clatter. "You'll trade his life, for mine."


	40. Exchange

"Oh ho, little miko," he chuckled. "And how do you consider this a _fair_ trade?" he asked, a devilish grin on his face. I knew what he was thinking... If he'd planned to kill the two of us anyways, then there would be no reason for Kagome to offer...

"Because you want the source of his new power, and I think you'd give me his safety in exchange for it."

Naraku narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips in consideration. "Just think," she continued, her voice carrying an air of calm resignation, "instead of absorbing a mere adolescent youkai, you could gain what's behind his accelerated growth."

Naraku looked unimpressed, though, raising a single eyebrow in annoyance. "Why should I believe you have access to such a thing?"

A sick feeling took root in my stomach. ' _Don't show him... don't tell him...'_ I felt vaguely panicked that our world was about to come crashing down...

"Because," she said, her fingers drifting to the thin silver band encircling her wrist, "I _am_ the source of his power." With that, she pulled the bracelet from her arm and slipped it into her pocket.

A heartbeat passed before her form rippled like a pebble striking water, and Naraku's grip actually slackened enough that I could get a normal breath of air. If he hadn't known that _I'd_ grown so much, then he _definitely_ wouldn't have known that Kagome had become something entirely different. Maybe he was stupefied from seeing Kagome turn into a full-grown female youkai right before his eyes...

He murmured just loud enough for me to hear, "And she wanted me to _trade_?" He smirked, tightening his grip on my form as more of his earth tentacles shot out in her direction.

I barely managed a strangled cry of " _Run!_ " before a writhing mass of mud slapped around her. (I supposed I wouldn't want to grab hold of an angry, overprotective miko with my bare hands, either...) Naraku controlled the mass of earth to lift her up to our level, ignoring her glare as he turned her body this way and that, looking at her altered appearance.

"You will release Shippo, now," she said, and I got the distinct feeling that she was trying very hard not to shake in fear. It wasn't our ideal method of facing off with Naraku, but we had to be strong for the sake of each other.

Naraku laughed heartily, still mere feet from the two of us suspended in the air. "First, you will show me how you are connected to this kit's growth." Kagome blanched. While it was true that the two of us _kind of_ knew how the connection worked, there was really no way for either of us to show him _how_ to do something that was based purely on instinct.

"I- I can absorb youki, and transfer it into other creatures..." she stammered, her nerves clearly getting the best of her.

' _Transfer it?_ ' I wondered. I had to focus on my hatred of Naraku to keep the confusion from showing on my face.

Naraku smirked. "Absorb youki? Miko, the only thing you can do with youki is destroy it."

Kagome scowled at Naraku, "If you're so smart, then how can I only destroy it when I'm _obviously_ a youkai?"

"It is merely an illusion concocted by your kitsune; an admirable power which I shall assimilate into my own."


	41. Desperation

I don't know what Kagome had been hoping to accomplish, but since there was no time to think of a clever plan to fool Naraku, we were running low on realistic ideas... Kagome had apparently reached the end of her patience just as Naraku's extensions began to swallow me whole. I heard a rumbling sound that reminded me of an earthy collapse of dirt and rocks...

I managed to gasp in a final breath of air before his pulsating, squishy flesh finally covered my head. I was disgusted. I was terrified... I tried wriggling free; I tried changing forms. My youki was running dangerously low from everything I had done earlier, and Naraku was sucking away the very life-force that I needed... My limbs grew heavy and my eyelids drooped as my youki waned, and I began to feel the creeping fingers of despair walk up my spine.

I knew that if Kagome were to attack Naraku with her holy powers, I would not be able to escape the purifying burn, and so, I resigned myself to the idea that my time on this earth was short-lived. Knowing that I had very little to give to help Kagome, I pushed aside the terror that squeezed in on me like the mounds of youkai-eating flesh and focused every last ounce of thought on protecting my dearest friend...

A moment later, I fell to the ground in a crumpled Heap-of-Shippo, caught completely off-guard. ' _What in the..._ ' I weakly pushed myself to my hands and knees, barely noticing the shredded pieces of flesh littering the ground. I shook my head once to try to clear the lethargic fog...

The ground shifted beneath me -throwing off what little balance I had recovered- as the wind twirled into a cyclone that encompassed the entire clearing. It tore through any youkai still hovering nearby, throwing their lifeless, bloody corpses in random directions as an obvious display of strength. It quickly became apparent that Naraku's recently acquired control of earth and wind would help him in this battle. I looked up to see what had happened to Kagome, and gasped.

Kagome stood near me; more bright blue vines had torn through the back of her shirt to hover protectively around her body. Two flicked out to wrap around another earthy tentacle that sprang from the ground near me, effectively dissolving them back into dirt as they drew in Naraku's youki.

He looked beyond angry as he hovered across the clearing, and it seemed we were at some kind of stalemate. Kagome's jaw clenched, her bristling tail twitched furiously behind her. She reached into her blouse and withdrew the one thing to spur some kind of reaction from the evil hanyou across the clearing: The Shikon no Tama.

Almost immediately, Naraku's left hand shot across the field, extending out from his arm like a twisted gnarl of sharp thorns headed straight for the pink glow of jewel. The blue vines immediately snapped out to defend her against the attack, but they could only slice through the spikes and not absorb their energy. He renewed the attack, this time splitting the limb in several directions to overwhelm her numerous defending vines. Once his 'hand' closed around the jewel between her fingers, his body materialized mere inches from hers.

I felt frozen as I watched with my mouth agape. ' _He's **that** close... why doesn't she just purify him!_' Kagome's vines quickly wrapped around his arms and torso as Naraku grinned evilly.

"You should have already realized that you can't drain my youki like you could with every other creature on this battlefield," he murmured.

"No, I can't," Kagome agreed, a frown darkening her face as Naraku extracted his blackened half of the Jewel. A few more vines slipped around his neck and curled around anything it could grab hold of as her back began to glow a dim pink.

"And once I've completed the jewel and taken its power for my own..." he sneered, bringing his dark half towards the portion held trapped between his and Kagome's hands.

He never had a chance to finish that sentence as her holy power ripped through the vines on Kagome's back, engulfing everything they touched in pink fire. He had been able to escape her devastating power once before due to his body separating before it burned completely away... Naraku was shrewd when it came to battle strategies, but he must have forgotten his logic when faced with what he'd fought so hard to attain.

As her vines dissolved away into ash, all that remained of Naraku was a wisp of purple mist and a few deformed human bones. I dragged myself the few yards to her collapsed form and slid underneath her limp arm. It was dark and peaceful once more in that clearing as the sounds of forest life slowly returned; all trace of the dangerous creatures had faded before the moon rose over the tree line.

I stared up into that perfectly clear night sky, wondering at our luck that evening... Naraku and his minions had nearly killed us by setting us up in a vulnerable position, yet we managed to win without loss of life or limb. I grimaced at that thought before carefully flexing my injured shoulder. Not only that, but the beasts Naraku had gathered _could_ have come back to finish the two of us off as we lay exhausted next to the battered portal to Kagome's time. It seemed that once he had vanished, they had no further desire to stick around and be next.

She coughed in exhaustion as her body curled around my own. "I don't get it," she gasped, wiping a smear of blood off my cheek. "My vine didn't hurt you once..."

I grinned a little and said the first thing to pop into my head: "It's 'cause you love me more than your stupid cat."

"You've been around Inuyasha too long," she grumbled, threading her fingers loosely throughout my bangs.

"Maybe," I agreed, slipping my hand into her pocket to extract the bracelet she'd removed earlier that evening. I pressed it into her palm before finally relaxing against her soft frame, allowing my body the rest it needed to recover from injuries and overexertion. ...I wasn't sure if she put it back on before I let the oblivion of sleep drown my senses.


	42. Sleepyhead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And life goes on...

"Kagome?"

"Shippo!"

Worried, familiar voices pushed through the blank fog that had enveloped my senses. My shoulder felt stiff but no longer ached as I shifted and nuzzled against Kagome. She was warm and smelled like home, and I was sorely tempted to drop back into slumber.

A clawed hand wrapped around my arm and effectively yanked my out of the lethargic comfort. "Oi..." I recognized this voice as Inuyasha's. "Oi - what happened? Are you two okay? Wake up!"

An early morning chill still lingered, and the muted sounds of sparse forest life told me that the sun had not yet risen. I growled in annoyance and absently flicked my fingers at him, wishing he'd disappear for another hour or so.

"Are they alright?" Sango spoke this time, giving me the vague impression that she'd run a long distance due to the strange sound in her voice.

"They're fine, just lazy," Inuyasha grumped with an exxagerated sigh.

"I'll go find him something else to wear," Miroku quietly suggested.

Feeling entirely annoyed that I wouldn't be able to sleep until sun-up, I rolled over and stretched out as far as I could reach. My moment of bliss was broken by the unexpected sound of fabric tearing. ' _I suppose **this** is what Miroku was talking about,_' I thought.

I sat up slowly, grimacing a bit as the too-snug pants squashed various sensitive spots. Sighing in weary annoyance, I did the first thing that came to mind to relieve my discomfort - I touched a fingertip to my forehead and focused on the appearance I'd been stuck in for years. The odd shift in my form ended with an involuntary shudder, but as soon as I'd taken on the familiar size, I immediately burrowed back into Kagome's stomach. ' _My favorite spot...'_

I smirked at Inuyasha's mumbled cursing, but the soft sound of Kagome's heartbeat coupled with the slight motion of her breath sent me right back to exhaustive sleep. We were completely oblivious to the fact that Inuyasha carried us back to Kaede's hut, and we both slept right through breakfast _and_ lunch. (He made sure to complain about it later that night, though...)

The sun was drifting below the treetops when Kagome finally woke. She must have been feeling playful; one moment I was dreaming of dancing candy, and the next... dancing fingertips were attacking my ribs. I kicked out once, then twice, trying to dislodge the evil appendages, but my short legs were no longer up to the task of _reaching_ very far.

I grumbled in resignation, cracking open an eyelid to glance up at Kagome's mischievous expression.

"About time you two got up," Inuyasha said with a slight grin.

"Indeed," Miroku added, stepping into Kaede's hut with a bucket of fresh water. "There is much to be discussed." My gaze immediately fell to his right hand, where the cloth and mala beads had previously sealed his kazaana. He met my gaze with a wink and the brief flash of a smile before sitting next to Sango. "It appears that while we were separated, our quest was completed."

Maybe it was just me, but this seemed like a slightly awkward moment. I mean... how do you tell your friends that everything we've fought so hard for -for _years_ \- ended in one evening while they were off running unimportant errands? ' _Oh yeah, we killed lots of demons and finally finished the old bastard off!_ '

Kagome must have been thinking along the same lines. "Yep..." she said, absently twisting my bangs into odd directions.

"So," Sango leaned forward with an eager expression, "tell us what happened!"

Kagome laughed a bit nervously and pulled my tiny frame against her stomach in a near-uncomfortable squeeze. Whatever went through her head at that request must have stressed her out, and with good reason; I imagined it had something to do with the vine and her permanent change in appearance. "Well... Naraku sent some demons first to wear us down and waste my arrows. It was a tough battle, but Shippo fought magnificently," she cooed down at me. I had to grimace and roll my eyes at her overly cute expression... "When I had but one arrow remaining, Naraku appeared to gloat about his impending victory. Then he noticed that Shippo wasn't small anymore and was going to absorb him..."

"And then Kagome saved me! It was so cool, as soon as I got out of his grip Kagome tempted him with the Shikon and he took the bait and Kagome purified him before he could escape!"

Everyone in the hut stared at me in confusion for a good two minutes.

"And that's what happened!" I exclaimed, puffing my tail in agitation at the lack of response. "Well?" I'd be damned if they sat there like a herd of stupid cattle.

"I see," Miroku said with a nod. "We also encountered our own battle on our return trip. A group of youkai children insisted on a fight to the death for reasons we -at that time- could not comprehend."

"They were almost too fast for us to handle," Sango murmured, stroking Kirara's fur. "There were six of them, and they all seemed to hold exceptional skill in cooperative acrobatic maneuvers, as well as various elemental tricks that kept us running and fighting for _hours_."

Miroku frowned as he picked up the story. "They fought with a rage born of desperation, and only at the end of the battle did we understand their motives. Their youngest sibling, one we had yet to see, materialized with a violent shaking of the earth that surprised us all and stopped our battle. She was nothing but an apparition, and her elder brothers and sisters fell to their knees in sadness at her appearance. She told them to return home, for her death had been avenged by a 'holy red warrior.'"

I felt Kagome tense slightly just as I realized what the ghost must have meant, but no one in the room seemed to notice either of our responses to the odd description. "Apparently," Miroku continued, "Naraku had kidnapped the girl and ordered her siblings to fight against us if they wanted her back safely."

"How sad," Kagome whispered. Sango nodded miserably, and I knew that her thoughts had settled on her lost brother, dead now for over a year. Naraku had taken the life-sustaining shard to distract us from his retreat during a fierce winter's battle...

Everyone turned to look expectantly at Inuyasha, who'd sat against the wall in compete silence since I'd woken. "What?" he complained.

Miroku smiled warmly at Kaede as she offered him a cup of tea. He flashed a smirk at the annoyed hanyou after taking a careful sip. "Surely you have some tale to share with us, Inuyasha?"

"Keh, it's not like I was on vacation, hanging out in Sesshou's Sparkle Spot or something," he said. "Look, some stupid bitches thought they would pick a fight with us. They ran off before we could kill them." Sango betrayed her disbelief with a slight quirk of an eyebrow. "I don't give a damn what you fuckers think," Inuyasha growled, standing quickly.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, giving him a fierce glare. "Watch your language!"

"Whatever," he mumbled. "They fled before we could finish them off. They just wanted a spar or something, I guess."

"I wasn't trying to call you a liar, Inuyasha. I was just curious if your brother had to save you from evil women..." Sango grinned, reaching over to punch him in the shoulder.

"I don't need saving from any stupid girls." Inuyasha turned his nose up in a spoiled pout. "It was a good fight, two on two."

"Pray tell, Inuyasha... Were they so lovely to behold that you lost the will to fight them?" Miroku flashed him a sly grin. I noticed Sango curling her fists in annoyance, but she managed to refrained from striking him - yet. "They must have heavenly beings to have bested one such as yourself, not to mention your brother."

" _Half-_ brother," Inuyasha spat in annoyance, shoving his hands into his sleeves to avoid strangling the annoying monk. "Plus, they were mostly see-through."

This gained the monk's full hentai-minded attention, and his expression turned dreamy and appreciative. "Is that so? Are you perhaps speaking of the mystical ethereal sprites that drape themselves in luminous wisps of fabric?"

' _Oh man, here we go again..._ ' I watched on in barely veiled amusement as Sango scowled and set aside her tea. I'm sure she was fully intent on dragging him outside to teach him a lesson, although whether her lessons would involve more pain than pleasure that evening, we would never know.


	43. Things Change

Just as Sango grabbed hold of her beloved's ear, Kikyo stepped into the hut. "Kagome," she greeted with a slight nod. Her voice was quiet and serene, reflecting her newfound inner peace. It was a bit strange to hear her speak with such soft tones... "Come, we must seal the jewel."

I wasn't sure what she meant by 'seal the jewel,' but I put faith in Kagome's choice as she set me on the ground next to her and stood to join the undead miko at the hut's doorway.

"I'll be back in a little while," Kagome said, smiling back at us before walking outside.

Silence fell over the hut for a short while as we stared into the cooking fire. "Here, Shippo," Miroku said, handing me a bundle of fabric.

"Oh, thanks." I clutched the humongous package to my little chest and, without any further words, sped out of the hut, realizing that of all the time I'd been growing so quickly, I hadn't yet looked at my reflection to _see_ the changes.

Daylight waned as I hurried to the spring and slid to a noisy stop on the pebbled shore. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, wondering how drastic my change would be.

I exhaled and relaxed...

As easily as the air escaped my lungs, the slip of youki that clung to my body and effortlessly allowed it to retain the shape of a young kit swirled and faded into nothing.

I could feel the tickle along my shoulders and back as my hair lengthened. Several heartbeats passed before everything grew still once more and I opened my eyes.

Prolonging the moment of discovery, I ignored my reflection and brought my hand into sight, admiring the pale blue strips of color that encircled my fingers. My gaze shifted to the reflective surface before me and my tail -long enough now to brush the pebbled shore- practically curled in anticipation.

I eased to my knees at the edge of the water and slipped my hands into the cool liquid, barely disturbing the calm surface. My hair, still bound in the usual ponytail, slid across my left shoulder and brushed past my elbow as I looked down at the reflection.

' _That's not me,_ ' I thought, shocked at my own appearance. While it was true that I could not recall exactly how many summers had passed since Mother's death, there was no _way_ that I could be as old as...

"What's taking you so long, runt?" Inuyasha landed behind me with a soft rustle of cloth. I didn't even bother to turn toward him as I traced a finger from my brow to my chin, wondering at the familiar bone structure that so resembled my father's...

"Shippo?" Inuyasha asked a bit hesitantly. I thought he wouldn't be surprised at my growth, since they'd seen us that morning before I shape-shifted to my smaller size, but maybe I'd grown some more while we'd slept...?

"Yeah." Even my voice was barely recognizable. "Kami," I whispered, running my gaze over the lean arms and torso that my older form possessed. There was no trick to this appearance... No effort put into practicing a set image, no conscious thought to alter my physique to match what I might have thought looked great...

I turned slightly to reach for the haori Miroku had gotten for me and shrugged it on as I stood to face Inuyasha. "Well," he grinned, "I guess I can't call you 'runt' anymore." He and I were almost the same height... someone could even argue that we may have been born within a year of one another.

I couldn't help but smirk at the knowledge that, no matter _how_ tall I grew to be, he'd still call me runt. "Did they finish with the jewel already?" I asked, feeling out of place as the unfamiliar tenor voice spilled from my throat.

"Not yet. They're over by the Goshinboku, but there's no way in hell I'd bother the two of them while they're busy. They're likely to sit my ass until tomorrow morning," he muttered, stuffing his arms into his billowy red sleeves. "So," he said, glancing in my direction as I tied my belt. "This is what you're supposed to look like?"

My eyebrow rose and my mouth twitched in amusement. "Why?" I couldn't help the swell of kitsune pride at his apparent admiration.

"Just makin' sure you weren't copying someone else to fool us again," he said, kicking a small rock out of his path. "Holy red warrior, huh?" he said, casting an interested glance in my direction. I stilled, turning only slightly to indicate I was listening. "Did you pick up some flashy new moves with your towering height?"

I relaxed and looked at the ground with a grin on my face. "Maybe a thing or two," I said. I couldn't have hoped for a better explanation that avoided mention of Kagome's permanent change. If she wasn't ready to tell the group, then I wasn't about to reveal her secret. "Maybe I can give you lessons later."

As quickly as the idea of teasing Inuyasha flashed through my head, the knowledge that Kagome was nearby (and probably doing something cool) came to the front of my mind, pushing aside everything else. Curiosity got the better of me - it always did. I leapt away from Inuyasha, veering off the path back to the village toward the ancient God's Tree. "Where are you... Oi! Leave them the fuck alone! Shippo!" I heard Inuyasha shout after me.


	44. Condensation

It didn't matter if he tried to come after me as I darted quickly from tree to tree. All I needed was a _peek_ to see what they were up to... I arrived without a sound and stared down at the two girls sitting perfectly still below. Their hands were loosely clasped together around the Shikon no Tama, which could barely be seen between their interlocked fingers. No sounds of motion came from behind me, so I was satisfied that he had not followed (probably out of fear.)

The air seemed to condense and thicken around the two mikos, growing heavy with the weight of a constricting spell. The blades of grass around them bowed under the invisible force; the tree limbs around me shuddered and groaned in protest. The light of the jewel disappeared as they clenched their fingers together, and that burden of power rushed to that small space between them.

I blinked in confusion, realizing that they had sealed away the immense power of that accursed jewel. I could no longer see the strange glow it had emanated, nor feel the strange tickle of energy that called out to my kind...

"It is done," Kikyo whispered, relinquishing control of the shiny orb to Kagome.

"Thank you, Kikyo. I'd have never been able to do that on my own." She smiled and draped the chain around her neck once more.

"Kagome," Kikyo reached out to touch the other miko's shoulder with slight hesitation. Kagome gazed at the other miko in concern and I felt a nagging fear settle low in my stomach. "The jewel should be returned to where it belongs."

"Oh," Kagome said, not seeming the least bit surprised. "Alright, we can take it up to the shrine before we go back to Kaede's..."

"Not there," Kikyo interrupted.

"Um, alright..." Kagome looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again, "We can make a trip to Midoriko's cave, then, before I go home. It'll only take a few days..." Kagome trailed off as Kikyo shook her head.

Looking even more confused than she had a moment before, Kagome took the jewel from around her neck and held it out for the older miko to take.

"No, Kagome. I am no longer the guardian of the Shikon no Tama. That task became your duty when I died and it returned to this realm through you." Kagome's hand drew back to her chest, settling the jewel over her heart as Kikyo spoke, comprehension dawning on her face. "And it must return from whence it came."

Kagome's free hand settled absently over the old scar on her hip, and my nagging fear exploded into horror as Kikyo nodded affirmative and withdrew a knife from inside her sleeve.

My eyes narrowed as anger welled up from deep within me. ' _If she dares hurt Kagome..._ '

"B-but," Kagome stammered, "I can't - not anymore. It wouldn't be _safe_ ," she whispered, leaning forward a bit.

"Why not? Your soul is pure, and once the sealed jewel is within you again, it would be impossible for youkai to detect..."

"But Kikyo, _I'm_ a-" Kikyo cut her off before she could continue.

"I know. Kaede has confided in me so that we could adequately prepare. It is as I have said, and there is no safer place for it to rest."

Kagome chewed on her lip as she considered Kikyo's proposal. My claws dug into the bark that I'd perched upon as I waited to see what would happen.

She nodded her consent. My muscles tensed in preparation to spring. _No one_ would spill Kagome's blood if I had anything to do about it. Kikyo made no motion, and I glared down at her, wondering why she was stalling.

Without making any sudden movements, she carefully placed the blade on the ground, hilt-first. "You can come down, now, Shippo." Kikyo hadn't even needed to look up, but Kagome seemed mildly surprised at the fact that I was there.

I slid from my branch and landed in a crouch next to the girls, a frown on my face as I stared down at the sharp blade. I didn't want to see Kagome injured at all, especially during our time of well-deserved peace, but if it was necessary to protect the jewel... Kagome took my hand in hers and squeezed it tight, giving me a reassuring smile. She trusted Kikyo to help her do what was best for us all, and that would unfortunately involve a little bit of voluntary bloodshed. I brushed the back of her hand against my cheek and swallowed back the protective anger that had threatened to overwhelm.

The older miko gave me the option to assist her, but I shook my head quickly, knowing I couldn't cause Kagome pain. It was hard to watch Kikyo make an incision above her hip, especially when Kagome grimaced and choked back a sob of pain. Claws dug painfully into my palms as I did my very best to _not_ rip the blade from her fingers... But after a grueling moment of blood and pain, Kikyo had tucked the jewel into Kagome's flesh and with deft fingers, carefully stitched the wound shut.

"When we get back to Kaede's hut, we'll make some tea to help dull the pain," Kikyo said, standing with practiced grace. Kagome made to stand as well, but I quickly gathered her up into my arms, ignoring her half-hearted grumble of protest as I followed Kikyo back along the path to the village.

I glanced down at her as she curled her fingers into the front of my haori. "Are you going to tell the others?" I whispered.

She shook her head once. I knew she must have had good reasons for not telling her closest friends the changes she had gone through, but I couldn't imagine that they'd react negatively to the truth... Maybe... they'd be concerned about her having the Shikon within her if they knew of her new form?

Kikyo held open the entrance to Kaede's hut and allowed us to enter first. Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha were immediately on their feet with questions and concerns over Kagome's well-being. (Of course, it didn't help that I'd _carried_ her into the hut.)

"It's okay, everyone. I'm fine." She wriggled out of my arms and sat carefully by the fire as Kikyo put together some herbs for her tea. I arranged her bedding behind her and helped her recline against it. "Thanks," she beamed at me. My face flushed slightly at the praise before she tugged on my sleeve to sit beside her.

"It seems that you were successful in sealing away the jewel's radiant presence," Miroku noted.

"Yep," Kagome gave a half-grin as she gingerly patted her hip. "It's back where it belongs, and should be pretty much undetectable." Kikyo handed her a steaming cup and she sipped in silence.

"I'm surprised the runt is still standing after spying on you two." I couldn't help but grin at Inuyasha's disgruntled expression.

Kagome looked slightly sheepish as she absently rubbed the back of her neck. "Actually, I didn't realize he was there."

Kikyo nodded once in agreement. "The sealing required immense concentration. I did not realize he was there until I sensed his concern for Kagome's welfare." My face flushed even more in embarrassment as everyone in the hut turned to look at me.


	45. Tease

The quest that had defined our lives for the past three years had ended. Miroku's curse had finally been broken; the looming threat of death would no longer hinder him from living a full and happy life, full of curse-free children. We had avenged Sango's family, and over the years, she and Miroku had begun taking on new students to begin replenishing the numbers of the taijiya. Through seemingly endless trials, we had finally managed to locate and complete the jewel, restoring and returning it to its rightful place. Even Kikyo and Inuyasha had found peace in one another.

The only thing we had left to worry about was Kagome... Would she stay with us? Would she decide to go home and never come back? ...Maybe she could visit on occasion...

Miroku broke the contemplative silence. "With the power of the Shikon no Tama sealed away, will the Bone Eater's Well allow you passage home?"

Kagome frowned and opened her mouth to respond, but Kikyo interrupted by raising her hand. "It does not matter. We will find a way to return Kagome to her time."

It was obvious that we all understood what this meant. Inuyasha's grip on Tessaiga's sheath noticeably tightened, Miroku and Sango grasped each other's hands, and Kirara buried her nose in the fluffy tip of my tail. Kagome quietly held her tea and stared blankly into the fire. No one wanted to consider it, but if she needed Kikyo's help to get home one last time, chances were good that she'd never be able to come back.

The quiet melancholy that had settled over our group made me sigh in annoyance. If we all sat around and wallowed in our misery, then when Kagome went home, all we'd be left with would be forever-depressing memories of our last moments with her.

I reclined next to Kagome and carefully examined my claws. I glanced up at Inuyasha and caught his eye with a mischievous grin. "So, Inuyasha," I drawled. "Tell Kagome _all_ about those girls that kicked your butt so that she has something to laugh about when she goes home..."

He scowled at me in annoyance. "Look, runt - it was a good fight. _No one_ got their butt kicked."

"It sounds interesting, Inuyasha," Kagome smiled. "If you and your brother had a tough fight and no one was killed, then your opponents must have been just as amazing as you two..."

Ah yes, stroking Inuyasha's ego was the easiest way to get him to start talking...

I watched Kagome out of the corner of my eye as Inuyasha, then Miroku and Sango, related the battles fought the previous evening. It was surreal - almost like a dream of the happy ending we'd chased after for so long... Kagome smiled and laughed with our friends late into the night, but it was easy to see the telltale signs of her weariness.

As much as I hated to admit it - it _would_ be better for Kagome if she were to go home. Not only did she need to rebuild her life with her family, but I had no idea how much longer I'd be unconsciously taking her energy to speed my own growth.

But it was so easy to picture stealing her away... I could wait until everyone thought she had gone, and then I would take her with me. I'd treasure her and keep her safe and give her presents and together we'd be able to see everything the world had to offer...

I doubt anyone noticed my distance that night... There was so much for everyone to think about - with Naraku gone and the quest for the Shikon finally at an end, there was hope for a future. A long, happy, fulfilling future.

Once the humans had fallen asleep, Inuyasha and I stepped outside the hut to sit in silence. "Where will you go?" he asked me. I hadn't thought it would be obvious, but I'd spent the last few hours thinking of where I'd like to travel.

I glanced sideways at him; he wasn't even looking at me. "Northwest. I think I'll go look for my parents' homelands... My father's should be easy enough to find, but I'm not so sure about where Mother was born."

"I think the villagers are planning some kind of feast for this week," he said.

"Doesn't matter," I murmured. "I'm saying goodbye to her tomorrow. I can't sit around and think about her leaving for much longer, and there's no way I can watch her go." I dug my claws into the dirt beneath me, watching in minor amusement as glowing blue liquid filled the furrows. ' _It would probably_ not _be a good idea to play with fire outside of Kaede's hut_...'

Inuyasha must have understood my reason for needing to leave, because he didn't say anything for a while. "Don't stay away too long. I figure Sango is going to have babies before next summer..."

' _Hmm. Sango and Miroku with kids... if they take after their parents, then everyone nearby will have their hands full_...' It would be too amusing to miss. "I'll come back soon."

"Before you leave, come find me. There's something I think you should see." I nodded once, only slightly curious about his intentions. My thoughts had centered entirely on Kagome, and would probably remain that way for a while.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed his ear twitch and twist toward the sound of Taro's cat-turned-horse snorting in its sleep. I knew he was curious about the animal, but I feigned ignorance and slipped back into the hut.

Kagome had curled her fist under her chin as she slept - she had a slight frown on her face. I held my breath as I crept close enough to smooth a finger over her cheek; I smiled as her expression relaxed. It took a moment to find a spare sheet of her paper and a pen - somehow I knew that using crayon was out of the question that night.

Before the sun rose the next morning, I had written everything I could think to tell her on that single sheet of paper and tucked it safely into her backpack. I hope that she could read my handwriting, because I knew I'd probably never get the chance to say what I really wanted to say...


	46. Parting is Such Sweet...

I sat on the limb of a nearby tree that morning as I waited for her to emerge from Kaede's hut. Rays of the early-morning sun filtered through the leaves behind me and warmed my shoulders. Taro's horse galloped beneath my branch and broke the peaceful silence... followed shortly by Inuyasha, who shot by in a blur of red and white as he chased after the fleeing animal. It was terribly amusing and I felt half-tempted to follow behind them to see what further mischief I could cause - until Kagome stepped into the morning light.

I dropped to the ground in front of her and held out my hand, beckoning her to follow me. We walked a short distance until the village was no longer in sight, and then I turned to face her. I kept my expression carefully blank, but she somehow knew something was seriously bothering me.

"Kagome..." I began, but I found I was unable to form the words that I wanted to say. ' _I guess a letter was the best idea, then.'_

She frowned up at me and held my hands between her own. It's hard to imagine that she had _no_ idea what was troubling me... Considering everything we'd been through, I think the only reason I _could_ be sad was the fact that she and I would soon part ways. Maybe she thought that we'd have time to work through our pain; maybe she wanted me to confide in her for support. I don't know...

All she did was give me that expression of concern... one that she'd turned my way when I'd had scrapes and bruises or in (rarely occurring) stressful situations...

I stepped closer to her and pushed aside her unruly black bangs with a fingertip. I stared into those blue eyes for some time before my hand slid down her arm to hook onto the thin silver of her bracelet. I pulled it free and watched as her black hair faded to red and her face took on the distinct markings of a kitsune female.

I leaned close and touched my forehead to hers. "We're like this," I said, repeating something she'd said to me very recently. I touched my crossed fingers above her heart, "Always together."

"Shippo," Kagome whispered. I closed my eyes as tears spilled down her cheek; she understood the pain I was going through. She was the only person I cherished more than my own life, and the misery of losing her was eating me up inside. I trembled in sudden fright, afraid of my pain and anger. I had to escape the overwhelming flood of emotion before I did something I'd regret later...

' _I'm such a coward._ ' I couldn't even bear to say goodbye to her, so I pressed my lips to her forehead and ran away as fast as I could. I knew that eventually she'd find the letter I'd left... As well as discover every remnant of her candy stash (ahem - technically _my_ candy) missing.

Once I'd gained a good distance between the two of us, I doubled back to watch her from afar. She slipped the bracelet back on her wrist and walked to the nearest tree, leaning against it for support. I couldn't hear her sobs, but I knew she was crying. I hadn't meant to say goodbye to her in such an abrupt manner, but the desire to never let her go was too strong for me to ignore.

I stalked away through the shadowed forest, berating myself for stupid behavior and pathetic cowardice. Tears had formed in my eyes, but I stubbornly refused to let them fall. I was angry and confused, and- ' _Why the hell didn't just I use my pouty face on her?'_ I smashed a clenched fist against my forehead in frustration and kicked a rock off the trail as I scowled.

Inuyasha dropped into my path and stared at me with his head tilted slightly. "Going already?" he asked, moving to walk beside me.

I shrugged one of my shoulders and made a noncommittal sound.

"Come on, then," he said, leaping forward and out of sight. I hesitated only briefly before following. In a matter of seconds, we'd arrived at the clearing by the old well. The ground still looked mostly charred and torn from various blasts, but someone had taken the time to collect the youkai remains and discarded weaponry.

Inuyasha stood a short distance away, his back toward me. As I approached him, I realized that something seemed out of place in the otherwise demolished field... There was a relatively large patch of flora (grass, flowers, curling vines, even things that looked like fluffy pink and blue candy growing on thin stalks) growing in one spot. I stared down at the oddity in confusion. "This was where you were when you woke up. We were all worried about you two when we realized that our own fights had been diversions. When I got close to the village, I could smell the smoke and blood..."

He cast a critical gaze in my direction, as though sizing me up. "I understand that you've grown a lot since this whole fiasco started, and I know that Kagome isn't a pushover when it comes to her battle skills, but to think that the two of you took on Naraku _and_ his army is so _hard_ to believe... Is there something I need to know about before you take off?" He looked pointedly at the excessive flower growth.

"That's her decision," I murmured. "She has her reasons for not saying anything right now..."

"I know that something has changed with her. I can't put my finger on it, but something smells off."

"You'll probably be the first person she confides in if something goes wrong," I said, watching him closely. "She's going to try to go home soon... but if she can't make it through, will you send someone for me?"

"Sure. You know... you _could_ just stick around and find out for yourself." He grinned as if he knew exactly what was bothering me.

I bit my lip to hold back a snarl of anger. He had no _clue_ how much I wanted to... wanted to... I took a deep breath and turned away from him. "I would stay if I knew I could." My voice had a tight edge to it, and I felt pressed to hit him. I don't know where the unfounded desire to cause harm stemmed from, but I controlled the urge and leapt from the clearing.

As I sped away once again, there was no doubt in my mind that I loved Kagome enough to let her go...


	47. And Then...

Two weeks. Two lonely, miserable weeks.

Every day after I'd left Kagome crying at that tree trunk felt like a year. It was hard to eat, and it was near impossible to sleep. Not even my prized candy helped cheer me up.

I stood silently on the bank of a wide river, contemplating whether I wanted to swim or _attempt '_ flying' across when a sharp prick on my cheek pulled me from my musings. I slapped my hand against the nuisance and wasn't terribly surprised to see the tiny old flea demon, Myouga, squashed flat against my palm. "It's good to see you in fine health, young Shippo," he squeaked out.

I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up, but the tiniest glimmer of possibility sparked to life in my thoughts. (...Okay, so maybe the glimmer was closer to a blazing fire.) I was so anxious to discover what he had to say, I could barely choke out a word to ask. "News?"

Once the flea demon had reformed himself and adjusted his clothing, he sat crosslegged in my palm and tucked his four hands into the crooks of his elbows. He closed his eyes and nodded sagely. "Her departure was a magnificent event that I will never forget."

I could feel my hopes deflate like a squashed puffball mushroom. (...I have to wonder sometimes at how often my hopes get dashed like that. Maybe I should start expecting the worst, so that I can enjoy the few things that go right?)

The process had apparently been both physically and emotionally draining, calling for Kikyo's expertise as well as the assistance of three other youkai. Myouga entertained the notion that Kikyo's spell required a mixture of power that would be reminiscent of the Shikon no Tama before he began his very _lengthy_ recollection of every detail I had no interest in.

"How long has she been gone?" I asked, interrupting his lengthy description of Kouga's ceremonial battle vestments.

Myouga cleared his throat, visibly disturbed that his fascinating retelling of the event had been interrupted. "Eight days. She left with the setting of the sun, a symbolic connection with her journey-"

"Wait, you said Kouga was there?" I interrupted again.

Myouga may have been annoyed at the new disruption, but he shifted topics so quickly that it was as though he'd planned it himself.

"Kouga was necessary for the spell's completion. You were originally intended to participate, but when you left, they had to locate a replacement powerful enough and worthy of Kagome's secret."

Whatever Myouga said next faded into half-ignored mumbles as that information sunk in. ' _She needed **me** to get home..._' a knot formed in my throat and a flush of shame and guilt crept across my face and neck.

I only half-listened as Myouga went on to describe the plans being laid for a new shrine to replace the old - to honor the Kami's great plan that had ended the struggle for the Shikon no Tama... ' _blah blah blah_.'

The sun began to sink over the dense forest to the west, casting a bright glow across the thin clouds overhead.

My thoughts were a jumble and my emotions wouldn't stop racing in circles, but I knew I could always count on one thing: the sun would soon set and arise once again in the morning to cast everything in new light...

At least I wouldn't worry anymore about whether Kagome had left or not...

Myouga continued to talk as I stood to watch the setting sun. I knew that no matter what, I had to see her again. Five hundred years would be a terribly long wait, but it would give me plenty of time to learn how to control my growing abilities - as well as mull over what I'd done to my favorite female...

I'm not sure how much time passed as Myouga chattered on about everything. I had to smirk at the fleeting thought that he must have not been permitted to speak his mind when he was last in the group's presence.

I scented the breeze and stretched my limbs as far as I could reach, barely catching the end of one of Myouga's rumors. "...has also been rumor of an evil youkai terrorizing a nearby shrine. He has slowly destroyed each of the shrine's most precious and rare plants, and the guards have asked for-"

His sentence was cut off with an undignified squeak of protest as I pushed off from the riverbank with a mighty leap. "Young Shippo! This is not the correct direction to-" I wasn't surprised at the panicked note to his voice.

"I'm not ready to play hero yet, Myouga. I already wasted my childhood chasing after and running from badguys..."

"If you are not ready to save lives or property -nor return home- where is your intended destination?" He almost sounded resigned...

"The northwest, to the homeland of my father's family."

Apparently, no more needed to be said, for Myouga merely held on to my haori as I shot through the trees.


	48. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where do we go from here?

A streak of lightning raced across the cloudless red sky, followed closely by the loud rumble of thunder. There was not a cloud in the sky, but the ominous threat of storm hung heavily in the air. The chill whisper of a breeze brushed through the foliage of an ancient tree standing proudly in a secluded grove. The hint of an old scar marred the weathered bark, as though it had been pierced long ago.

A small creature snuffled about in the dirt a few feet away, hunting for a nibble of an odd-colored plant that grew sparsely amongst the dried grass. Its head jerked up and tiny eyes darted about nervously as a single leaf crunched in the silence, sounding nearly as loud as the thunder had mere moments before. Its sharp vision focused on a tall, strange stone that had not been present before, and it cocked its head curiously at the foreign object. The stone bore such a close resemblance to a female youkai that the tiny creature sniffed the air warily and waited cautiously for any sign of motion. The temperature in the grove suddenly rose an uncomfortable degree, and the critter squeaked in fright before quickly darting away into the underbrush.

A tall man half-covered in stone plating stepped lightly into the grove, his gaze trained up at the branches of the ancient tree. As he came to stand beside the feminine statue, his pale, bare left hand traced absently along the delicate twists of her hair and curves of her face. He spared her grieving expression a single glance before moving toward the massive trunk.

His stone-plated right arm radiated fiery heat as the rocky armor around his hand grew into long, sharp claws. He gently settled his left hand upon the trunk in a short measure of reverence, his eyes closed while his mouth twisted into a bitter smile.

The entire grove seemed to shake in agony as those sharp, rocky claws scored great, smoking gashes into the weathered wood. He threw a glance over his shoulder in time to watch a single teardrop spill from the stone eyes of the statue. He parted his lips to whisper in the silence: "And the expression of my love begins anew..."


End file.
